Brave New World
by Giovanni
Summary: Let the battle begin.
1. Default Chapter

Dark clouds surrounded the skyline of Violet City. A drizzle began, which turned into a downpour. Futilely attempting to cover the rain from his red and black uniform was Will of the elite four. The destination was the oddly shaped bellsprout tower. It was quite unusual for one of the elite four to come by and pay a visit to such a place as this and under the current conditions it seemed ridiculous.  
  
Will's annoyance turned into frustration, then into anger, and finally into rage. Why was he, an elite four trainer, to go to this wretched tower of old monks who trained bellsprout? Was he that unimportant? Didn't any of his superiors think he had better things to do with his time than go visit obscure towns full of even more obscure men who espoused sayings that rivaled all else in obscurity? Will let out a sigh and realized that this was what he got for being the last of the elite four.  
  
It was a few miles walk through the mud when Will finally saw it. The tower looked just fine actually, it could even look threatening under the right circumstances, that is, if Will hadn't happened to have known that it was full of a bunch of monks who trained bellsprouts. Will was at least glad to be out of the rain if nothing else.  
  
The elite four trainer boldly shoved open the door and marched into the tower. To his surprise, however, not a single of the sages seemed to be shook up by his entrance. After a few seconds, one of them turned around and walked toward the ill mannered visitor.  
  
"Is there something we can do for you?" inquired the aged sage.  
  
"Yes. I need some information on a few legendary pokemon. I heard that some of you here knew something about them," said Will.  
  
"Ah," said the sage, "You just sit down and relax while I go and get the Elder. He will gladly help you. You must be related to the pokemon league. Are you a junior trainer to a gym leader perhaps?"  
  
"Actually I'm an elite four trainer. And do please hurry up," replied Will angrily.  
  
As the sage walked off Will looked for a seat, only to find that the only real place to sit was against the wall on the floor. With a bit of effort, he was able to bend his legs and sit, leaning against the hard wall. Now it was time for the waiting game.  
  
Will managed to divert his attention from the time to watching some of the sages train their bellsprout. Their movements seemed quite graceful. Each movement had a certain meaning to it, almost as if it meant something more than a mere dance. As the elder walked in, he dropped the thought completely.  
  
"Welcome. It is not often that we get one from the elite four to visit. What exactly can I do for you?" said the Elder warmly.  
  
"The elite four is monitoring legendary pokemon constantly. We always keep a close eye on them. As I understand it, you have some information on some of the legendary pokemon. I'm particularly interested in the legendary dogs and the two great legendary flying pokemon," said Will.  
  
"We are not the people you should go to for catching such creatures. But we've sensed a definite increase in interest in those things. The legends have always said that the pure in heart will be able to encounter these creatures. There has been a new interest in these pokemon. I hope that this thirst for power will not drive these pokemon away. I also see that there are a few pure reservoirs out there that may draw out these pokemon," said the Elder calmly.  
  
"This is all you have to tell me?" interjected Will.  
  
"One more thing comes to mind. If you are searching after legendary pokemon, suicune in particular, I would search out a man named Eusine. He's a bit easier to find than suicune, but not by much," said the Elder.  
  
"That's it? I come all this way for this? Just a rambling of energy and legend about pokemon and a mention of some crazy person who searches after a suicune? Whoever this guy is, he's nothing to the elite four, and this bit of legend has done abolsutely no good for me. I suppose I was foolish to come here and ask such things of you monks. You train such weak pokemon that have terrible abilities as a species. What on earth are you doing with bellsprout for heaven's sake?! Their defenses against special attacks are notoriously weak and you don't even train them. They never even fight and you don't let them evolve. I have to get back to more pressing matters. Good day," interjected Will rudely.  
  
Will had certainly had the last straw and he stormed out of the tower angrily. After their visitor was out of listening distance, the sages exchanged glances with the Elder.  
  
"Sensei, is this one really a member of the elite four?" inquired the sage.  
  
"Yes. He is indeed. The man is very strong, and yet at the same time, he is terribly weak." 


	2. Part 1

A full moon came out of a dense cloud cover and it gave Indigo city a slight bit of lighting. Together, with the many other stars that were visible, it gave the night a unique beauty. Only far away from the massive cities, only within the Indigo Plateau could one see so many stars. This type of beauty is, however, hard to appreciate for people whose very lives hang in the balance of what will happen in the morning. Indigo City is mainly composed of trainer quarters. During this special time of year, trainers of all ages are still awake and nervous about the coming battles in the morning. A good majority of them are unsure of what to do with themselves if they lose. Sadly, a good half of them will have to find out in a few hours.  
  
In the C building, in room eighteen, an interesting two people were paired together. The league had set up each room with a bunk bed, its own bathroom and a few cabinets. It wasn't quite the roomiest of accommodations, but it was nonetheless sufficient.  
  
"Conrad, are you awake?" asked Marlow. Marlow, atop the bunk bed was a teenager of about seventeen years. He had dark brown hair and a very thin face. His eyes were a deep green. His gaze gave the impression that there was someone very old behind his young face.  
  
"I am now. What's bothering you?" returned Conrad from the bottom bunk. Conrad was a middleiaged man with hair just a shade lighter than Marlow's. Conrad's eyes were a deep grey, which, coupled with the right expression, could make his face a very penetrating sight to behold. It also made his smile seem a lot more warm and amiable. Odd as it may appear, Conrad and Marlow were, in fact, fairly decent friends, occasionally they even enjoyed each other's company.  
  
"I'm thinking about tomorrow," said Marlow.  
  
"I know. You're just really nervous about whether or not you'll win and you're wondering if everything will go okay during these league matches," said Conrad.  
  
"Well yeah, I guess I'm kind of a bit nervous about that, but that's not quite what's bugging me," Marlow said in a slightly less positive tone.  
  
"Well what is it then?" asked Conrad, now quite interested to know what else anyone could be thinking about.  
  
"I've been thinking about this competition. I know I have the potential to win and everything and I hope everything works out okay. But then, I'm thinking, even if I win every single match tomorrow and every other match in all of this competition, does it really matter?" said Marlow contemplatively.  
  
"Well of course it.." put in Conrad.  
  
"No, not that it doesn't matter. But I mean this whole thing about being league champ and ranked in the top whatever among whatever the number ends up being. Does it really mean that much? I mean, I never really can know who exactly is out there. This kind of competition sort of assumes that they have the best trainers in here to begin with. I could win and then cleaned by someone who hasn't yet bothered with all of this league business. And then, even if I really was going against the best, I might win just because luck was in my favor for a particular battle. Maybe the trainer I go up against might be having an off day and I come away feeling good when that person could have beat me otherwise?" said Marlow meditatively.  
  
"Marlow, don't think about it. Just try your best and you'll have no regrets. You worry about these things too much. If you do well enough in league, new opportunities will open up as a trainer. Just win. That's really all that matters. You think too much," Replied Conrad.  
  
"Yeah, I guess you're right," said Marlow. He was not completely comforted, but it would have to do. Those thoughts didn't really matter at this point. Perhaps Conrad was right. He needed to win. Thoughts like these don't really matter. Do they?  
  
"Get some sleep Marlow. You'll do fine in the morning," said Conrad, breaking Marlow's train of thought.  
  
"Good night," was the best reply Marlow could manage.  
  
Ê  
  
The next morning, Conrad found himself in a league arena, staring down a teenage boy whose age was not too far off from Marlow's. The lad was incredibly nervous, and Marlow's ability to keep a straight face seemed to terrify him.  
  
"This league preliminary match will begin now. This is a first round league preliminary match. It will be a three on three battle with no time limit. From Cherrygrove City and on the blue side is Conrad and he will be facing Jacob from New Bark Town on the red side," voiced a loudspeaker.  
  
"Good luck to you," said Jacob.  
  
"The same to you," replied Conrad. Conrad never liked to say good luck to anyone, good luck always sounds terrible, when you think about it.  
  
"Trainers, begin!"  
  
"Go, quilava!" exclaimed Jacob.  
  
"Let's have some fun granbull," said Conrad.  
  
"Use flame wheel quilava," said Jacob.  
  
"Bite the bullet granbull and use mud slap," put in Conrad.  
  
Quilava's back burst into flames and it spewed fire upward, heading towards granbull. Granbull ignored the attack and began to bury itself in the ground. By the time the fire came down, granbull had sunk its paws deep into the ground. The bulldog braced itself slightly as it endured the flame wheel and after it regained its composure it flung a massive mound of earth in quilava's direction. The dirt phased quilava's fire slightly, but the damage dealt to quilava's vision was of greater consequence.  
  
"Quilava, give it another flamewheel!" shouted Jacob.  
  
"Granbull, fling up some more mud," said Conrad.  
  
Once again quilava launched another flamewheel while granbull kept burrowing deeper into the ground. Granbull struggled a bit as it took another fire attack, but it regained its composure and kicked up an even more massive hunk of dirt and mud. Quilava let out a cry as its vision became increasingly worse.  
  
"Quilava, just keep using flamewheel, it can't keep this up for long!" said Jacob excitedly.  
  
"Granbull, begin the double team," Conrad said confidently.  
  
Quilava became increasingly frantic as its vision became more blurred. Now its overgrown bulldog adversary was not such an easy target for its fire. It unleashed another swirl of fire but it missed its target. Granbull's already blurry image seemed to be dividing into two. Quilava tried to focus on just one image, but it proved too difficult and it settled for another flame wheel in the general direction. The two images became three. More fire went into the air. The three images became four.  
  
"Granbull, return," said Conrad.  
  
Four images of a huge bulldog now began charging up to quilava. As they drew nearer the images seemed to finally come together, to settle into one. The single image rammed quilava, hard. The fire pokemon fell backwards and rolled over a couple of times before it managed to get back up on its feet.  
  
"Hang in there quilava, use your best flame wheel, you can do it."  
  
"One more return."  
  
The fiery pokemon managed to launch one more volley of flames before it was bashed into unconsciousness by granbull.  
  
"Quilava is unable to battle. Granbull wins and Conrad now leads 3-2," voiced the loudspeaker.  
  
"Go girafarig, nail it with a psybeam!" said Jacob Excitedly.  
  
"Granbull, give it another return," Conrad said calmly.  
  
A beam of psychic energy was sent pulsing towards granbull, or at least what seemed to be granbull, but the beam missed its mark and it gradually faded off in the distance. Granbull lumbered up and crashed its body against the hapless giraffe, nearly knocking it off its feet.  
  
"Girafarig, try confusion," Jacob said worriedly.  
  
"Granbull, again."  
  
Jacob was hoping that the more general area of effect that confusion had would be enough to hit granbull. He smiled as he saw the big dog's mad rush slowed by the sudden psychic energy. The smile faded as granbull stubbornly continued its charge and rammed girafarig, this time knocking it flat. Girafarig's legs wobbled as it tried to bring itself to stand again, but it seemed to realize what would happen if it did stand and it calmly gave up.  
  
"Girafarig is unable to battle. Granbull wins and Conrad now leads 3-1," said the loudspeaker.  
  
Sweat began to drip from Jacob's face. Jacob couldn't understand it. He was definitely one of Professor Elm's top trainers and he'd worked fairly hard to win all eight of his badges. He certainly didn't deserve to be humiliated like this, did he? Jacob looked back on his battling style and realized it was primarily offensive. This guy seemed to blend offense and defense in a way that was powerful. As he wiped his brow he shot a look at Conrad. This Conrad guy, how could he be so calm? Jacob knew that he only had one shot to win. He kept his last pokemon to deal with these kinds of round about strategies.  
  
"Go mantine, haze all our troubles away" said Jacob with a renewed sense of hope.  
  
"Finish him," Conrad said calmly.  
  
A huge coal colored cloud filled the arena and at last, all of the images of granbull began to reassemble into one. The hound was weak and now without its illusory protection. The surprising part was that neither Conrad nor granbull seemed to care. Jacob shot a glance at Conrad and all he saw was a grin.  
  
"Granbull, hyper beam."  
  
A giant beam of great destructive power was launched right at mantine. Mantine cringed as it sustained a direct hit and it flailed violently to keep itself in the air. As the beam subsided mantine's flailing stopped and it fainted just as it hit the ground.  
  
"Mantine is unable to battle. This match goes to the blue side of Conrad," said the loudspeaker.  
  
The two left their respective sides and met at the center of the arena to shake hands. They mechanically complemented each other and made their way to the exit hallways on different sides of the arena. As Conrad made his exit he contemplated his fallen adversary. He was just one of the many youth attached to the hollow dream of becoming a pokemon master. If that one were to quit, there would be ten more to replace him. Each one of them just wants to assert themselves by becoming so called masters. Sure, some of them were exceptionally skilled, but Conrad did not particularly care.  
  
"They don't want to change things or make a difference," Conrad said aloud to himself, "All they want is to have their own precious little title. Kids can't understand my desire to influence. I wonder how long it will be before one of them beats me."  
  
Conrad could see a figure approaching further down the exit tunnel. As the figure came into the light it showed itself to be Marlow. Conrad wasn't the only one with something on his mind. Marlow wore a sober look on his face and greeted his elder friend with a simple nod.  
  
"Aren't you going to congratulate me?" asked Conrad playfully.  
  
"I saw the battle," replied Marlow tersely.  
  
"And?"  
  
"You deliberately gambled that your first round opponent would be inexperienced by using risky accuracy strategies you wouldn't normally try just so you could speed up the battle and make your opponent's defeat that much more crushing," put in Marlow.  
  
"And?"  
  
"And...I really am just glad you came out on top. But I still wish you would do your best when you battle and take it more seriously, even if you are battling someone much less skilled," said Marlow.  
  
"I'm just having a little fun. Part of all this is fun you yourself questioned the validity of this entire tournament," returned Conrad.  
  
"That may be true, but I still think there is something about battling that goes beyond just messing around. Call it chivalry or do or something like that, but there is something beyond all of this," said Marlow.  
  
"My dear young friend, now is not the ideal time to be preoccupied with such things. It will simply end up distracting you from doing well. Now run along to your battle. I'll be watching you from the stands."  
  
Marlow would've contended further, but Conrad's genuine concern for his success in the match pacified him. Their friendship had often been preserved by their ability to accept differences of opinion. They had a mutual respect through that. Marlow dropped the thought and began to focus on his next match. 


	3. Part 2

"A recent study showed that the nation's crime rate is still on the rise. We're seeing a 1.7 percent increase in the statistic when compared to last year's numbers. Authorities largely attribute this to the increasing amount of teen anxiety caused by social orientation and academic pressures. In other news, archaeologists have been excavating the remains of many structures in Cinnabar Island that seem to remain largely intact following the island's infamous eruption more than three years ago. Geologists estimate that the mud flows caused by the volcanic eruption were launched in such a way that preserved much of the architecture of the island. Cinnabar's rebuilding is still far from complete, allowing teams plenty of room to do excavation. The teams are focusing on the island's center where the Cinnabar mansion and laboratory facilities were located. The famous eruption caused no fatalities, however valuable information and equipment and pieces of historical significance did not make it out of the island before the eruption."  
  
Will shut the television off. Casually he rose from bed and reached on top of his dresser drawer. His hands clumsily felt around until they felt a cold small rectangular object. Snatching this, they drew nearer to his face and pressed the against it. Will fumbled some more and found a light switch. After turning it on he could see the numbers he was looking for. He dialed the number from memory and waited impatiently for an answer.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Koga, were you watching that?" Will inquired.  
  
"You mean the report that the nationwide crime increased stemmed largely from teen dysfunctionalities that weren't addressed in the status quo?" replied Koga.  
  
"No, the excavation. All kinds of interesting stuff could be preserved in those buildings. What's more, the pokemon league should be the first to have a shot at that information. If it's all right, I'd like to go ahead and check it out. I'm having a hard time getting leads on these legendary pokemon when I only have legends to work with," said Will.  
  
"It's absolutely fine. You may leave immediately."  
  
"I'm curious, if you wanted me to go, why didn't you notify me earlier?" asked Will.  
  
"There's a message waiting for you at the front desk detailing your departure time and contacts. I was hoping you had gotten the message sooner, but you must have looked unapproachable to the hotel personnel. Good night," replied Koga.  
  
Will hung up. Koga always seemed to be one step ahead of him. He was always trying to adjust to being a newer member of the elite four and it seemed as though the senior members were always picking on him. This time he would prove himself. If he could just manage to uncover key information that would lead to the finding of a legendary pokemon, or even something of scientific significance, he would gain their respect. This would be his big chance. It would let him shrug off some of the mockings given to his personal appearance and head gear if nothing else...  
--------------------  
  
"Will trainers Marlow and Jessica please report to the battle arena?" Marlow exited the tunnel and made his way to the blue side of the arena. As was his custom, he looked at his opponent through the corner of his eye. What Marlow saw made him look another time. Jessica was incredibly young, She appeared to be no more than twelve years old. Her small size seemed to contribute to the youthful impression she gave. She wore a t-shirt with a pikachu on it and she was singing something to herself, but Marlow could not make out the words. As the two reached their respective corners, their gaze met.  
  
"Good luck Marlow," said Jessica.  
  
"Good luck Jessica," replied Marlow.  
  
"This league preliminary match will begin now. This is a first round league preliminary match. It will be a three on three battle with no time limit. From Olivine City and on the blue side is Marlow and he will be facing Jessica from New Bark Town on the red side. Trainers begin!" voiced a loudspeaker.   
  
"Pikachu, I choose you," cried Jessica.  
  
A scruffy looking pikachu came out of its pokeball. Suddenly several people in the crowd rose to their feet and chanted "pikachu" in unison. A chorus of applause followed and Jessica smiled and waved to the crowd. The electric pokemon had many fans in the crowd and the spectators took its appearance as a rare and special treat.  
  
"Tentacruel, go," said Marlow.  
  
When tentacruel emerged, Jessica's eyes seemed to light up and she smiled at Marlow and nodded. Marlow glared at her to return the expression. She either knew something he didn't or she thought she knew something he didn't. Marlow reserved judgment kept his mind on the defensive.  
  
"This should be easy pikachu, use your thunder attack now," said Jessica.  
  
"Tentacruel, mirror coat," Marlow said calmly.  
  
The tiny yellow rat's scarlet cheeks began to glow with electric power and its entire body tensed up before it sent a beam of pure electricity up into the sky. It focused as it directed the electricity down at its aquatic adversary. The process was difficult and not always the most accurate, but pikachu was able to pinpoint the electric attack properly and it came down on tentacruel. Tentacruel did not attempt to dodge, it just channeled all of the pain and destructive energy into one body. It let that body flow around it and then it began to glow a reflective light. Pikachu eyed the display closely. Tentacruel's attack seemed to make itself into a perfect mirror. Pikachu could see the reflection of the stadium, the crowd, the sun, and even itself. Pikachu's reflection then started to unleash a thunder attack and the thunder hit tentacruel. Pikachu felt the pain of unleashing all of that power again and it also felt the pain that the attack did to tentacruel all at the same time. The feelings and the pain were so great that the electric rat winced and doubled over on the ground. Pikachu lied there for a couple of seconds before staggering back to its feet.  
  
"Pikachu, are you okay?" asked Jessica sensitively.  
  
"Tentacruel, sludge bomb," Marlow said insensitively.  
  
"Pikachu, use thunder one more time," said Jessica.  
  
Tentacruel's tentacles parted asunder to allow for a sudden burst of toxic sludge that quickly covered pikachu. The electric pokemon collapsed instantaneously.  
  
"Pikachu is unable to battle. Marlow now leads 3-2," said an announcer.  
  
Following the announcement, the same people that had cheered on Jessica's pikachu now were beginning to boo its defeat as well as the one who had defeated it.  
  
"Water versus electric, I ought to have won," Jessica muttered to herself as she recalled pikachu. Looking at her two remaining pokemon carefully, she made her selection and tossed it out onto the field. A clefairy emerged from a pokeball and did a little dance. Marlow's neutral and contemplative expression fell into a frown. This was just like Conrad's battle only worse. Much, much worse. To top it all off, he had the popular vote against him.  
  
"Clefairy, use your sing attack to put tentacruel to sleep!" exclaimed Jessica.  
  
"Tentacruel, surf," said Marlow.  
  
Clefairy began to sing a sweet lullaby aloud. The melody was akin to the sirens that drew in the crew of Odysseus. Tentacruel fired a massive stream of water downwards, creating a thick column of water. When the column reached its apex, tentacruel stopped the stream and tilted itself forwards. The column curved and decompressed until it became a wave. Tentacruel brought the wave down from the sky and right onto its puffy foe. Clefairy took quite an injury, but it was not yet defeated. As tentacruel moved back towards its battling position, clefairy was focusing skyward.  
  
"Tentacruel, do another m.c. in a moment," said Marlow.  
  
"Get ready, clefairy. Do your solarbeam attack!" shouted Jessica.  
  
Clefairy quickly fired a glowing green beam directly at tentacruel. Tentacruel absorbed it in the same fashion. It glowed in reflective light and clefairy was soon floored and unconscious. Shock ran across Jessica's face.  
  
"Clefairy is unable to battle. Marlow now leads 3-1," said the announcer.  
  
"Go charmeleon, fire blast tentacruel," exclaimed Jessica.  
  
"Tentacruel, surf," said Marlow.  
  
Tentacruel initiated its surf attack and was well out of the range of charmeleon's fire blast. Charmeleon fired at the ever rising column of water anyway and was treated to a small cloud of steam. The water rose higher and soon tentacruel came down riding a crashing wave. Charmeleon was lay wet, broken spirited, and fainted moments later.  
  
"Charmeleon is unable to battle. This match goes to the blue trainer Marlow.  
  
The crowd voiced protest. All manner of booing commenced as Marlow congratulated Jessica and hurriedly made his way out of the arena. Marlow lengthened his stride as he approached the visual safety of the tunnel. Marlow rested for a few seconds and then poked his head out to look back at Jessica. Tears seemed to be strolling down her cheeks. She was looking straight down towards the ground and she apparently did not want to see anything else. She had not even left the arena. Marlow would've gone out to reassure her, but the crowd was all too foreboding. He simply turned away and walked back down the tunnel.  
  
Marlow put his hands over his face for a few seconds in frustration as he walked back towards the trainer quarters. He would get the information on his next battle later when he was feeling better. Just as Marlow removed his hands from his face and looked forward he saw Conrad. Conrad greeted him with a warm smile and a face that was sincerely trying to restrain laughter.  
  
"That was absolutely great. Were you watching her when she was battling you? She went from being the embodiment of pride and hope to the embodiment of misery and despair," said Conrad laughingly.  
  
"I know, Conrad, I know," replied Marlow.  
  
"That wasn't the half of it. What you did to the crowd was great. Those foolish people. All it took was for her to use a favorite pokemon and the next thing you know they all hate you. It's amazing how quickly people just operate on emotions and then start conforming. That's just social psychology for you, isn't it?" asked Conrad.  
  
"Yeah, I suppose you're right. I really don't mind the crowd though, even if they do hate me. I'm more concerned about Jessica," replied Marlow.  
  
"It serves her right. Her sheer sentimentality for those popular pokemon just set her up for that kind of a defeat. She had it coming, whether or not it was from you doesn't really matter," said Conrad.  
  
"That's my point exactly. What kind of opposition did she have to go through to get here with those kinds of pokemon? She must have worked her guts out. The pressure to change that style must have been enormous, but she somehow managed to get all the way to this league. As soon as she makes it here, I just come and destroy it all in the first round," said Marlow sadly.  
  
"It just sets itself up like this. A universally recognized title with competition for it creates people who seek after it. If they don't do the things necessary to achieve that title then they are going to fail and it's as simple as that. She set herself up for this and you happened to be her executioner. There's nothing you can do. It would have either been her or you. The only other solution is you change the system, but you're not in a position to do that," put in Conrad.  
  
Marlow sighed. Conrad was quite correct this time. If only there was something he could do for Jessica. She was on the verge of adolescence and this would be a shocking introduction. So many people, so many lost souls. Could he be more merciful?  
  
"Cheer up. The next round is going to have better competition. It's just going to get better after that. You'll have those true honorable battles you've been waiting for. These last few battles were pathetic. The latter ones won't leave you with any guilt for doing your best," said Conrad warmly. 


	4. Part 3

The eleventh floor of the Silph Company contained the executive meeting room. It was here that the major arguments and battles over the company's workings took place. The meeting table was unlike any other in the world. Only in Silph's executive room were there the best of corporate executives, business men, orators, and scientific geniuses seated together as one. The very room had seen countless battles and it was in store for many more in the very near future. Some of the best and brightest men and women walked this floor. Today they were joined by the janitorial staff. Silph was throwing a massive retirement party for its president, Tim Silph.  
  
Sam looked in awe at the entire spectacle. Balloons and banners decorated the entire floor. Waiters serving cold cuts to everyone with pizza, soda, and chocolate cake to even the most unknown employees. More amazing than that was that everyone in the company seemed to be so happy and amiable. Some of the bitterest of enemies had now humbled themselves to the point where they could exchange in a casual conversation. Everyone seemed to be having a good time.  
  
All of this seemed to be a tribute to Tim and what he had meant to the company. Everyone was able to, or at leas they seemed to be able to, put on a pleasant face for the retirement party, it was certainly no small feat. Sam walked towards the eleventh floor window and looked at Saffron below. How could Tim have possibly kept together a company so diverse and complex? Moreover, how could anyone hope to do it in the near future? Silph needed a new leader. A strong leader. The problem was that it would take a lot of internal cooperation as well. Getting some of the competing interests at Silph together would be no easy task. The company was very fragile that way. Sam felt a tap on his shoulder.  
  
Sam turned around to face Gus, an elderly janitor that had been with the company since it was founded. Gus wore his usual worn attire; coveralls and a baseball cap. His face fit the profile of someone's grandparent. His hair was grayish white, and he had a mustache. The man was by no means gifted in the ways of science, but the wrinkles on his face and the gaze of his eyes suggested a warm sort of wisdom. With a slight movement of his index finger, Gus motioned for Sam to follow and led him towards the elevator. Obediently, Sam followed.  
  
As the two entered the elevator Gus pushed the door close button quickly, but oddly didn't push the button for a floor after the doors closed. Reaching into his pocket, Gus pulled out a small silver object that Sam took for a key. Gus inserted it into a control panel in the elevator and all the lighting in the elevator went out.  
  
"Sam, I'm sorry to carry you away from the festivities, but I need to have a talk with you," said Gus.  
  
"Sure, what is it?" Sam said unassumingly.  
  
"I've got a few things to tell you about the company. Your father is now retiring. Did he tell you why?" Gus inquired.  
  
"Because he's getting older and he thinks it's time to step down and let someone new have the responsibilities?" replied Sam.  
  
Gus let out a long and deep sigh and paused a few moments and then spoke.  
  
"I was hoping your father was going to tell you himself. A lot of things have been going on within this company over the past few years that he has not told you for his own reasons."  
  
"Gus, just what is so secret about this company. We're a pretty multifaceted, talented business and we have a lot of diverse people. I don't really see what's so clandestine about everything," replied Sam.  
  
"Look Sam, I'm telling you this for your own good. The private executive discussions your father had with some of the board members weren't difficult just because of the issues themselves. They were difficult because some of the people, quite a few people in fact, opposed your father. Most of these same people are still in the company.  
  
"Gus,"  
  
"Listen, many times your father would leave late at night. He and I would exchange glances and I knew things were happening. He most likely retired because he feared for his safety. He probably got to know too much about what was going on. He never told me exactly because he didn't want me to know. You're going to get involved in this and you're going to have to find out as much as you can without them knowing about it," said Gus sternly.  
  
"Gus, who is 'them'?" asked Sam.  
  
"Look, you may think I'm crazy, and you've every right to think so. But you keep on your guard. It's likely they'll elect you the new president. Beware them. Find out who your friends and who your foes are. Your father is hoping you'll have better luck than he did. I wish I could do more, but I'm in no position to offer any help. Good luck," said Gus.  
  
Gus reached for his key again, inserted it into the slot, and, after carefully turning it, the lights to the elevator came back on. He motioned for Sam to leave as the elevator doors opened. As Sam walked out and looked back he saw that Gus had quickly shut the doors behind him. The numbers above the elevator indicated that he was heading downward.  
  
Sam was now faced with a million different questions, but he somehow managed to cement a smile on his face and turn and face the crowd again as though not a thing had taken place. It was amazing how long things could be going along as business as usual and then out of nowhere become more complicated. Sam had always enjoyed a rather simple way of life. He would just have to adapt, or simply ignore everything. Sam wished he could have done the latter, but he simply knew he couldn't.  
  
---------------------------------  
  
The inhabitants of room eighteen of the C building in the league trainer headquarters still did not slumber undisturbed. Marlow lay face up on a bunk bed as he stared upward in a dark room with glazed eyes.  
  
"Conrad?" Marlow called out  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Am I too sentimental and empathetic? I mean not only in just in battling, but in other things?" asked Marlow in a very sincere tone.  
  
Conrad was actually taken aback by Marlow's directness. An inquiry so sincere deserved in return an equally sincere answer.  
  
"Honestly, you're far too much so for my taste. Earlier today, you proved it," said Conrad.  
  
"I know. I really do have a lot on my mind. I also don't carry it well," admitted Marlow.  
  
"It's okay to be thoughtful, but you have to remember where you are. Whether you're right or wrong, it doesn't really matter. You're going to be struggling with philosophical stirrings while you get wiped clean by opponents who are only thinking about the size of their trophy and what to say to the reporters. You can't change anything right now. Keep a clear head. Your opponents could not care less about your cognitions or your intentions, they'll try and beat you any way they can. You're an excellent trainer, Marlow, and what's more an excellent person. That's why I'm telling you this," said Conrad.  
  
"Conrad?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Thanks for putting up with me." interjected Marlow.  
  
"Don't worry about it. You're about the only one your age who I can put up with," returned Conrad.  
  
"Oh and one more thing Marlow," said Conrad, "I got the information for your battle tomorrow. It's going to be at 2:00. The guy your battling is named Joseph. Does that name sound familiar to you?  
  
---------------------------------  
  
"This league preliminary match will begin now. This is a second round league preliminary match. It will be a three on three battle with no time limit. From Olivine City and on the blue side is Marlow and he will be facing Joseph from Mahogany Town on the red side. Trainers begin!" voiced a loudspeaker.  
  
"Tentacruel, go" said Marlow.  
  
"Come out, marowak" Joseph said from the opposite side.  
  
Marlow looked at the marowak sadly. Its trainer was about the same age as he was. From the look in his eyes, he seemed intent on battling tentacruel with his Marowak. Looking at the bone keeping pokemon, Marlow thought he would try something interesting. Perhaps he could prolong the match and give his opponent more of a chance if he had tentacruel use whirlpool instead of just blasting it away immediately. It seemed like it would be a kind thing to do, after all Joseph probably deserved a bit of a break after all of this anyway.  
  
"Tentacruel, use your whirlpool," voiced Marlow in a hopeful tone.  
  
"Marowak, give it an earthquake," returned Joseph.  
  
Tentacruel quickly shot a blast of water just a notch in front of marowak's feet and then with all the skill it possessed, plunged into its own stream of water and began spinning until an aqueous tornado was formed Tentacruel took control of it and guided it towards Marowak, trapping it inside and covering everything inside. The ground began shaking violently, the tremor was coming from somewhere inside that wall of water.  
  
A look of sudden surprise and horror crossed Marlow's face. This error would cost him dearly. One mistake was all it took. Marlow knew the outcome of what was to happen next. He sighed dejectedly.  
  
"Tentacruel, surf."  
  
"Marowak, finish it.  
  
The whirlpool subsided long enough for the crowd to witness the jellyfish pokemon fire a straight blast of water. The volley seemed to be about the thickness of a tree trunk and it was highly pressurized. Marowak struggled under the sheer weight and power of the blast itself. As the liquid stream subsided, the bone keeper stumbled back to its feet. While still dripping, it caused the ground to shake once more. This time the earthquake was visible. As the rumbling increased, the whole area of land bulged up in a matter of seconds. The bulge was highly uneven and as more earth was forced to the surface, it compressed on tentacruel, pinning it.  
  
"Tentacruel is unable to battle. Joseph now leads 3-2."  
  
Marlow sighed to himself and frowned. It would not matter who he sent out next. Well, Marlow wouldn't send him out unless he had to and Marlow did not want to have to do that.  
  
"Flareon, go," said Marlow as he tossed a ball onto the field.  
  
The fire evolution of eevee was a more rarer sighting among competitive players. Many people deemed it ineffective strategically, but for finishing off a badly weakened Marowak, it would do fine.  
  
"Flareon, flamethrower," said Marlow.  
  
Joseph didn't even bother to give an order. Marowak was simply too slow to retaliate and its last bit of energy was scorched away. Joseph didn't seem phased. He reached for his next pokemon confidently.  
  
"Cloyster, go."  
  
Marlow frowned at the sight of his next adversary. He could not switch out with what he had left. He would have to use him. Could Marlow never be merciful? Was he doomed to destruction every time he tried to give someone a chance ot was he simply guilty of completely overestimating his opponent?  
  
"Flareon, fire blast until you faint," Marlow said dejectedly.  
  
"Cloyster, surf and do the same," replied Joseph.  
  
Cloyster mechanically readied its surf attack. It suspended itself in the air within moments. Flareon readied a fire blast, but remained motionless, waiting for the right time to unleash it. Cloyster brought itself crashing down directly on flareon. The fire pokemon was phased, but as the water subsided it stood erect and shot out a gargantuan ball of flame that cloyster could not avoid. Cloyster rose to the air again for another surf attack as flareon readied another fire blast. Flareon did not fare as well as cloyster after that exchange. The next surf attack knocked Flareon unconscious.  
  
"Flareon is unable to battle. Joseph leads 2-1."  
  
Marlow momentarily was overcome in thought. Marlow always believed in doing his best, yet he was hypocritical in this belief. He never tried to battle for winning, nor did he really care about winning, he simply ended up winning. Marlow would always know why he would win, but he never ever had to go out of his way to win. Marlow was afraid of what he would become if he became obsessed with victory. In order to win now he would have to want to win. Marlow thought about giving up and ending the fight now. He wanted to be the person he wanted to be, but he didn't want to lose. He couldn't have both. Joseph wanted to win. Marlow didn't want to lose.  
  
"Nidoking, go, amnesia," Marlow said with a voice of sudden boldness.  
  
"Cloyster, surf it away," shouted Joseph.  
  
Nidoking closed its eyes and cleared its mind of all distractions, including its opponent, who was now high in the air and moving forward at terrible speed. As cloyster struck nidoking, it was taken back, but it remained completely calm and focused while forgetting everything of the outside world. The attack did not seem to damage as much as it ought to have.  
  
"Nidoking, continue," said Marlow.  
  
"Cloyster, keep surfing," said Joseph.  
  
When nidoking closed its eyes again, it seemed to be in another world. As cloyster rose up and came down again, its horned adversary seemed even less phased.  
  
"Cloyster, again."  
  
Cloyster obediently readied another surf attack, however this one did even less damage. Nidoking's eyes remained shut and its posture was perfectly relaxed. No assault seemed to disturb its meditation.  
  
"Nidoking, rest," ordered Marlow.  
  
"Cloyster, just wear it down."  
  
Nidoking's eyes remained closed and cloyster attacked with another surf. This time something interesting happened. After cloyster's surf connected, nidoking's eyes flared open menacingly and it focused right on Joseph, and then at its opponent.  
  
"Nidoking, thunderbolt," said Marlow softly.  
  
Nidoking's body began to suddenly charge with electric energy and it sent a bolt diagonally upward and straight down onto cloyster. The shelled pokemon could not withstand such an attack and it fell unconscious.  
  
"Cloyster is unable to battle. The match is tied 1-1."  
  
"Alakazam, take it down," said Joseph.  
  
"Psychic."  
  
"Earthquake."  
  
Focusing a powerful psychic blast, alakazam went first. Everything within a reasonable range of alakzam started to bend and refract and objects were manipulated in what seemed to be a different dimension. Nidoking was not phased. As the waves of psychic energy dissipated it shook the ground violently and it uplifted the earth just below alakazam. The physical hit was incredibly painful for the fragile psychic pokemon.  
  
"Again."  
  
"Again."  
  
Another psychic blast came from alakzam. The metaphysical alignment of an entire area was twisted and altered and bent in a brilliant display of psychic power. Nidoking had boosted its defensive powers far beyond what alakazam could overcome. As the last wave of psychic energy faded, Nidoking retaliated with another earthquake, easily knocking alakazam unconscious.  
  
"Alakazam is unable to battle. The match goes to Marlow from Olivine City."  
  
Marlow immediately went to the other side of the arena and shook hands with Joseph. This time his compliments on the battle were actually sincere. Just as he was about to return into the dark tunnel of solitude, Marlow turned back to the audience. They were actually cheering for him. They were cheering for him, approving his victory. Marlow smiled and waved to them. Victory was actually quite sweet. He would have to choose it more often in the future. 


	5. Part 4

"Doctor Grant! Doctor Grant! Come quickly! I've found something!"  
  
A huge wall of volcanic ash had been carefully chipped away revealing the entrance to the Cinnabar Pokemon laboratory. Though the stuff had severely discolored the walls and bent the massive metal entrance door, the entire laboratory still remained standing. An elderly scientist rubbed his eyes to remove the dust that had accumulated over the past forty-eight hours. After he had finished this exercise, he proceeded towards the newly excavated building.  
  
"This is really quite amazing. I'm surprised to see everything still intact. The granite foundation and steel support girders were designed to protect this building from earthquakes. Who could have guessed they would have kept the building together while it got buried under these dirt and mud flows?" commented Doctor Grant.  
  
"Is it safe to try and open the door?" asked Grant's young assistant.  
  
"I've no idea how close the building is to collapsing. I suppose there's only one way to find out."  
  
Doctor Grant slowly advanced towards the front door to the laboratory. The colors of the walls and doors were lost under a layer of dark brown dirt. Grant moved towards a large rectangular outline in the wall and proceeded to hit it with his fist. A faint metallic clang followed. The doctor put his hand over his fist to give himself something of a fighting stance, but it was really just to massage the recent pain that he felt in his knuckles.  
  
"This is the door alright. It's going to take a considerable amount of force to open," said Grant as he proceeded to give the door the strongest kick he could muster.  
  
The door remained within the frame. If it could survive Cinnabar's volcanic eruption then it could surely a kick from an aged archaeologist.  
  
"Vanessa, would you mind helping me?"  
  
"I don't think you're going to kick it down Doctor Grant. You've had too many diet cokes over the years," replied his young assistant.  
  
"Don't help me kick it. Help me push it," ordered the archaeologist.  
  
"Okay."  
  
The two began push against the metal door with all of their might. Vanessa's body tensed as she rooted her legs further into the soft dirt ground before pushing with full leverage. Grant wiped the sweat from his brow as he struggled against the weight of the door.  
  
"Okay, that's enough."  
  
"You don't mean to push it down?"  
  
"We couldn't."  
  
"Shall I get the rest of the excavation team to help us?"  
  
"Go ahead."  
  
Vanessa darted off to find as many able-bodied bodies as she could find. She only had to announce that they were going to open the way to the pokemon lab to get a huge crowd along with the men she needed. In half an hour, Vanessa had brought ten of the strongest men on the Cinnabar Excavation project as well as the rest of the people on the team to watch.  
  
"You'll get an honorable mention in the rostrum if you manage to push this thing down," said Grant.  
  
Ten muscular diggers lined up together. Five advanced directly towards the door and put their palms on it. The remaining five would do their best to push the first five forward. This moment would be the crowning achievement of the entire project.  
  
"Just remember, science has to stoop down to the level of brute physical force every once in a while. Get ready. Push!" shouted Doctor Grant.  
  
Ten men let out a grunt and tensed up as they shoved all of their force against the metallic door that now seemed more like a wall.  
  
"Harder! Harder!"  
  
Another wave of grunts followed. The team began to exert all the physical force that could be expected of men. The door did not budge. It would not be moved. One by one, the company of ten collapsed in exhaustion and sweat.  
  
"Stop!"  
  
The order was hardly necessary. Most everyone was already down on their knees and panting. The noise of a helicopter could be heard in the distance.  
  
"We'll need something much more powerful if we're going to bring this thing down."  
  
The noise increased and the entire excavation team began looking upwards towards the helicopter that was now nearing them. It hovered a bit directly overhead before it descending downward. As it moved closer, a miniature sandstorm formed as the helicopter blades tossed dirt and ash asunder. Either from the sand in their eyes or from the desire not to be crushed, the crowd parted to allow the helicopter a relatively wide landing area.  
  
The chopper landed and a side door opened. A familiar men in a red and black uniform emerged and looked around. He first examined the wasted Cinnabar landscape before directing his attention to the excavation team and the faint trace of a building. An elderly archaeologist approached. The two gazes met.  
  
"I need to speak with whomever is in charge!" shouted Will over the sound of the helicopter.  
  
"Turn that thing off please," returned Grant.  
  
Will now became aware that his helicopter was creating an unpleasant whirlwind of sand and dirt as well as making shouting the only form of communication. He made a signal to his helicopter pilot and within moments the unpleasantness stopped.  
  
"Thank you. Now then, you're Will of the elite four, are you not? What brings you here?" asked Doctor Grant.  
  
"I am. I'm here to take a look at your excavation work, particularly the work on the pokemon laboratory and the old mansion."  
  
"I'll tell you what," said Grant, "We've just uncovered the entrance to the Cinnabar Pokemon laboratory. If you've got a way to open it for us, we'd let you have the first crack at whatever we find."  
  
"Is it just some sort of giant security door?" asked Will.  
  
"That's about the size of it."  
  
"It should not be a problem," said Will calmly.  
  
"If you say so."  
  
Will approached the excavated entry way to the laboratory with what could only be described as a strut. Reaching down into his uniform pocket, he caught hold of his weapon of choice. A baffled team of researchers stared at him while wondering what he was about to do. Will responded by drawing out a pokeball from his pocket. The first elite four member enlarged the ball and threw it out on the floor.  
  
"Xatu, come out and use your psychic energy on the door."  
  
The psychic bird will released looked like it belonged atop a totem pole in a fireside ceremony. After a bit of flight, the bird perched itself a few yards away from the door and spread its gorgeous wings. The security door glowed a light blue before it began to slide along the ground. The effort was incredibly taxing on Xatu.  
  
"That's fine Xatu. Primeape, just kick the blasted thing down."  
  
Recalling the psychic pokemon, Will sent the pig monkey in its stead. It emerged, boxing gloves, anklets, and all. Letting out a squeal that belonged to neither a pig nor a monkey, primeape lumbered forward. With a swift and powerful quick, primeape sent the entire door crashing down. It landed with a large clang that echoed through the newly opened corridor. The excavation team looked into the dark corridor before looking back again at Will.  
  
"I thought you only used psychic pokemon," came a voice from the crowd.  
  
"It's just a specialty," replied Will.  
  
=====================  
  
High powered flashlights illuminated the dark hallways of the Cinnabar Pokemon Laboratory. The portrait of the laboratory's founder, Dr. Fuji, had not seen light in over five years. The excavation team marveled at how the interior of the building remained relatively intact. Ahead was a very large hallway with three doors on the left. Somewhere down the hall came a metallic thud.  
  
"What was that?" shouted Vanessa.  
  
Another metallic noise came from the distance. Everyone remained completely still. The sound stopped. The team waited. Five seconds, nothing. Ten seconds, nothing. Twenty seconds, nothing.  
  
"It was probably something structural caused by our forced entry. If the building could take a kick like that it's probably not going to collapse anytime soon," Doctor Grant reassured.  
  
Consoled, the company advanced forward to the first door on the left. "Meeting Room," read the sign on the door. Cautiously, Will reached for the doorknob. Turning it slowly and with the smallest amount of force possible, the door creaked open. Lights raced across the entire room, probing for dangers. Will walked in.  
  
"This was the meeting room for the laboratory. Perhaps we can find something that will explain what happened," said Will.  
  
The room was as large as it was foreboding. At the center was a giant dust covered table surrounded by chairs. In each of the four corners of the room were dead and shriveled up plants. So it goes. There seemed to be some papers littered about the table. Vanessa grabbed a hold of one and began to read.  
  
"Evacuation is nearly complete. Sealing the security door will be the final step. It is unfortunate that much of the instruments are unable to be transported. With any luck, the structure itself will remain intact, making our devices salvageable. Make sure that it (she emphasized it) makes it out of here too."  
  
"There's nothing of value here," Will interrupted.  
  
"All the good stuff is further down the hall. We may as well be on our way," put in Grant.  
  
The two men turned and headed towards the door. Vanessa was still clutching that same piece of paper. Sweat streamed down her brow. She was afraid of it.  
  
"Doctor, please wait up," she pleaded while dashing to keep up.  
  
The small company made their way to the next door. A sign just to its side read "R-and-D-room." Will opened this room with the same cautiousness.  
  
This seemed to be a room of analysis. Amber pipes and microscopes adorned the back wall and huge bookshelves were stationed along the side. All manner of documentation and reference was contained in this room. Everything a zealous genetic engineer could ever want would be contained within the space of this one room. Everything that is, except for the equipment itself. Only the analyzations were performed here. The testing room was one more door down the hall. Will shut the door. Another metallic clink chimed. It was louder and closer this time.  
  
"Doctor! Hold me!" shrieked Vanessa.  
  
"Now now, that wouldn't be appropriate." chided Grant.  
  
"Testing room," read the final door. Vanessa darted back outside. She did not seem to mind if she would see the equipment a little bit later.  
  
"Shall I open it?" asked Will.  
  
"Go ahead and unleash all evil on the world, Pandora," put in Grant.  
  
"Well when you put it that way..."  
  
"Do it."  
  
Will turned the knob. There it was. The entire back wall of the third room was not visible for it was covered with all manner of equipment. Will did not even know what cloning instruments were supposed to look like. It seemed to be a complex network of wires and cables with some huge main console, or some generic description like that.  
  
Everything seemed to be in order, except there seemed to be some weird shape in the back of the lab. As the light shined on it, it seemed to be very solid. The thing seemed to have a head which came out to two points. Will wondered what in the world it was. The beam of the flashlight reflected along a moving silvery surface. It was a scythe. Its bearer was alerted to their presence.  
  
"Get out of here! All of you! I'll deal with this!" shouted Will.  
  
All of the excavation team within the lab made a hasty retreat as Will fixed the flashlight on his opponent. As it advanced forward it sliced clean through a nearby desk causing some computers and keyboards to crash on to the floor. Will knew what to do. He ran past the door and down the hall.  
  
Will awaited the thing in the hall. Close quarter battles were dangerous for him and the equipment. A single slash could be fatal . The more open hallway would be a better place to engage in combat. To do battle with the unknown scythed creature, Will sent out starmie. The door to the third room was cut in half and then quarters in seconds. Will would not wait for it to emerge fully.  
  
"Starmie, thunderbolt!"  
  
Starmie emerged and charged up a bolt of electricity struck the doorway perfectly. A moan in some unknown voice followed.  
  
"Again!"  
  
The hallway became perfectly visible for about two seconds. The assailant was a pokemon. The assailant also collapsed just a bit in front of the door frame.  
  
"Ultra ball!" shouted Will as he hurled a purple pokeball down the hall.  
  
The purple pokeball's center glew red as a pokemon was now within range of capture. Automatically the two halves split apart and a red beam of light was shot directly down. Whatever was visible of the pokemon was now a glowing red light that was sucked into the halves. The ultra ball shook violently before it finally steadied. Will advanced forward to claim his new prize.  
  
=====================  
  
The excavation team was fighting over who would go and haul back the carcass of an elite four member when Will emerged, seemingly unscathed. In his hand was a beautiful purple pokeball.  
  
"Are you okay?" Doctor Grant asked.  
  
"I'm fine," replied Will.  
  
"What was it?"  
  
"This."  
  
Will dropped the pokeball on the floor and the entire team moved back several feet. A sturdy looking pokemon with scythes for arms emerged. It looked like it had come from the sea and that it belonged on earth and that it was supposed to have existed many, many years ago.  
  
"That's, that's..."  
  
"Kabutops," interrupted Will.  
  
"Yes. Was he difficult to capture?"  
  
"That thing has been trapped there for a very long time. I don't know how it survived for that long, but it's not important. It's living proof that the cloning facilities of Cinnabar were operational. We already knew that, but this fellow here would lead us to believe that these things are still intact. I took care not to damage anything during our little scuffle. He seems to have left the equipment unharmed."  
  
"That's great. Our team's job on this structure is pretty well finished then now that the excavation is taken care of and the equipment is safe. We mayaswell begin work on that mansion. I'll send for a team of researchers to examine what you've helped us uncover," said Grant.  
  
"One more thing Doctor Grant."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"This is of great importance to the league. I know you're not exactly the biggest expert in the area of cloning, but how much do you know?"  
  
"I can answer some general questions," replied Grant.  
  
"Good. The Cinnabar laboratory actually obtained these ancient pokemon directly through cloning, correct?"  
  
"Correct. I'm not them, but that is the only way they could have revived one of those creatures," answered Grant.  
  
"Good. Now can this type of cloning work for non fossilized pokemon?"  
  
"My thought is that it certainly could. It's a lot easier to extract DNA on a living subject. I know what you're thinking. I imagine that their instruments are set to run off of fossilized DNA samples for the cloning process and we'd have to make some adjustments to allow for cloning of something else but it would certainly be feasible. The only thing is that those types of adjustments aren't really my department. Some more advanced genetic engineers with some resources and finances say..."  
  
"Silph Co.?" interjected Will.  
  
"Yes. Some company like them could do it easily. I'm sure with their minds it shouldn't be any trouble. They haven't pioneered the field, but the R-and-D room seems to have a perfect paper trail covering every advance made here," said Grant.  
  
"Good. Do not notify anyone else of what we have discovered today. I will contact the league and then Silph. Understood?"  
  
"Sure. We were going to establish contact with another local unit. If you can get Silph over here then that would be great. League business is also something we've got to respect when the discoveries involve pokemon," Grant said obediently.  
  
"Good," said Will. 


	6. Part 5

"Welcome to the semifinal round of this year's pokemon league competition. Before we begin I'd like to share a brief bit of information regarding this tournament. Several years ago, any trainer with enough badges was welcome to march straight up to league headquarters and challenge the elite four. Things are different now. Either our league gym leaders have gotten weaker or our trainers have gotten better because as the years have gone by, many people have earned eight badges. As a result of this the league unanimously decided to have qualifying tournaments to face the elite four. Since then the two finalists of every tournament get to face off against the elite four. Unfortunately, since then not a single finalist has defeated even a single elite four member. Not a single trainer has beaten an elite four member since Gary Oak won the championship. His reign was the briefest in league history as Ask Ketchum battled his way through the elite four and defeated Gary. One person from this round is going to get a shot at the elite four. Competing for this will be Conrad from Cherrygrove city and Julia from Goldenrod City. For the judges, Conrad will be on the blue side and Julia on the red side. The format will still be three on three without a time limit. Trainers, begin!" Both trainers called out their pokemon at the same time. Conrad had sent out rapidash. Julia had sent out golem. Conrad frowned. This kind of a face off was too one sided, even for him.  
  
"Golem earthquake," said Julia.  
  
Before golem even got the chance to launch a ground-based assault Conrad had already recalled rapidash. In its stead emerged lapras, an even more extreme mismatch in favor of Conrad. In return for this, golem was able to hit lapras with a violent earthquake attack. The ground shook and shattered, cracked and bulged directly under lapras. Lapras, however was not intimidated, and was ready to wash its earthly adversary cold with one aqueous blast when its trainer gave the signal.  
  
"Lapras, surf."  
  
"Come back golem. Come out porygon," said Julia.  
  
Conrad raised an eyebrow as Julia called back golem to send out porygon. The electronic pokemon was quite the rarity. Conrad smiled as porygon shrugged off the surf attack with ease. Conrad had something special in mind as he gently patted one of his poke balls.  
  
"Porygon, thunderbolt," ordered Julia.  
  
"Lapras come back to me. Go porygon2."  
  
Surprise raced across the crowd as two equally unique pokemon faced off. Porygon2 was not flustered in the slightest by the thunderbolt it took. How porygon would fare against its upgraded self was a question the entire crowd, as well as the battlers themselves, pondered.  
  
"Ice beam," said Conrad.  
  
"Sharpen," said Julia.  
  
The two man made creations faced each other. Both pokemon had tangible form. Each of the models came equipped with advanced microcomputers capable of simulating pokemon behavior. The unit was also equipped with machines that assimilated the power of many elemental attacks. Porygon was officially dubbed a normal type because of the fact that it executed normal attacks well. This was because porygon's outer encasing held up well when it would crash into things. Conrad knew something interesting. If temperatures became low enough, porygon's computer system would malfunction and crash down.  
  
Porygon2's beak-like front shined a pale blue light and focused a beam of ice shot. Porygon was pushed back slightly and ice crystals began to form, but it did not restrict mobility. Porygon's processors began to recalculate the area and get a more accurate read out on its opponent. All factors significant to the battle were processed and uploaded and configured.  
  
"Ice beam again," said Conrad.  
  
"Recover."  
  
Porygon2 glowed and shot another beam of ice at its technologically inferior opponent. More crystals formed along porygon's outer exterior. Computer systems remained intact. Temperature control adjusted the temperature of the entire unit back to normal. All the ice around the unit was melted off. A few brief auto repairs and the unit was back in full swing.  
  
Conrad frowned. His plan had not worked. The recovery systems would keep the temperature from dropping too low. In order for him to get the upper hand, he would have to do something more elaborate. Perhaps if he used psychic the unit would calculate the chances of a drop in special defense and restrict itself accordingly, setting up for an electronic deactivation, or knockout in lay terms.  
  
"Use Psychic." said Conrad.  
  
"Sharpen," ordered Julia.  
  
The porygon assimilation of psychic power was technological genius. It wasn't pure psychic energy, but the waves it generated had most of the same effects. Porygon2 unleashed a particularly strong barrage of it. Porygon sustained damage on all fronts, but the systems remained online and it proceeded with its "attack". The porygon unit did some final configurations and adjusted all of its projectile launchers and locked them directly on to its target.  
  
"Psychic again."  
  
"Tri attack."  
  
Julia had been waiting a long time for the chance to show off porygon's true power. Her use of it had been met with skepticism all across the board. She smiled as the digital wonder fired off three different colored rays of gorgeous light. Porygon2 was shoved back as it sustained the force of the attack. Porygon2 was not yet defeated, but its movement was impaired. It was slowed.  
  
"Psychic one more time," ordered Conrad.  
  
"Finish it off with another tri attack," commanded Julia.  
  
Porygon2 did not attack first, its pace was slowed by what the unit calculated to be paralysis. In any case, it allowed its opponent to finish it off with another perfectly calculated tri attack.  
  
"Porygon2 is unable to battle. Julia leads 3-2."  
  
Conrad was pleasantly surprised with this defeat. Would she be the one to take him down? Porygon survived the skirmish only because of coincidental paralysis, but it was well played nonetheless. He meditated on his next choice. Rapidash would have to be sent out. It would be best equipped to deal the finishing blow. If the original porygon unit could induce paralysis by calculated tri attacks then rapidash would have to deal with that as lapras would have to fight golem. Rapidash it was.  
  
"Rapidash, fire blast," Conrad said stoically.  
  
"Porygon, tri attack."  
  
Rapidash quickly lifted its front legs high into the ground and formed a ball of fire in its mouth. As the compressed flames were sufficiently large, rapidash threw its front legs forward and spewed a massive volley of fire forward. Porygon was not quite fast enough or healthy enough to withstand the attack. As it became engulfed in flames, it shut itself down to eliminate risk to its systems. As it did so, it ceased hovering and fell straight down.  
  
"Porygon is unable to battle. The score is tied 2-2."  
  
Julia did not send out golem next. Instead she chose vaporeon.  
  
"Vaporeon, hydro pump."  
  
"Rapidash, hypnosis."  
  
Vaporeon was more than happy to wash out a fire pokemon, but rapidash quickly galloped into range and let out lulling cry. Vaporeon's eyes grew heavy and it stumbled off into unconsciousness. Suddenly, its eyes lit up again and it proceeded with its hydro pump. A highly pressurized spray of water shoved rapidash backwards while painfully drenching it with water. Rapidash landed in a puddle several yards away. The fire horse rose back to its feet and stood erect and awaiting its next move. Conrad was very pleased with the way this exchange went.  
  
"Double edge."  
  
"Hydro pump."  
  
Rapidash dropped its head and began galloping forward. Vaporeon felt a horse's skull ram it at an incredible speed and it went flying in the air. Vaporeon rose again and retaliated with a punishing hydro pump.  
  
"Rapidash is unable to battle. Julia now leads 2-1."  
  
Conrad smiled. This girl was quite good, it was a pity the match had to be restricted to a three on three.  
  
"Confuse ray," ordered Conrad.  
  
"Attract."  
  
Lapras focused its thoughts and created a uniquely crippling ray. Vaporeon had other crippling plans as it attempted to appeal to more base desires. That attempt was cut short as confuse ray hit and vaporeon ended up damaging itself before it could put on its show.  
  
"Try attract again," ordered Julia.  
  
"Lapras, thunderbolt."  
  
Lapras unleashed a powerful bolt of electricity that shocked and damaged vaporeon and made its attempts to attack more futile.  
  
"Rest vaporeon!" cried Julia.  
  
"Thunderbolt again."  
  
Another thunderbolt came down on the disoriented water pokemon. As the electricity subsided, vaporeon did slumber, but it was not the type that was conducive to competitive play.  
  
"Vaporeon is unable to battle. The match is now tied 1-1."  
  
Conrad was filled with mixed emotions. She was not the one. His time had not yet come. He would keep fighting. He looked at Julia and nodded. She nodded back at him and released golem.  
  
"Rock slide."  
  
"Surf."  
  
Lapras launched a wall of water and now towered menacingly over Conrad. Golem raised one foot as though it were a Japanese sumo wrestler. The ground began to shake and three boulders broke through the ground , rose into the air, and hovered in place. Golem could not hit lapras with these projectiles until his opponent was lower to the ground. Golem would be unconscious when that happened. After lapras came down with its powerful surf attack, he was.  
  
"Golem is unable to battle. Conrad wins the match."  
  
The conclusion of this match was met by a standing ovation from the crowd. Conrad's gaze met Julia as they walked towards the center of the arena.  
  
"Thank you for that battle. That truly was excellent," said Conrad warmly.  
  
"You're welcome. You are exceptional. Good luck in the finals," replied Julia.  
  
"One more thing."  
  
"Yes?" asked Julia.  
  
"Would you mind swapping your porygon for my porygon2?" inquired Conrad.  
  
"Never in a million years," replied Julia  
  
"I figured as much," said Conrad.  
  
===============  
  
"This league semifinal match is now going to begin. This is the qualifying match for the final round and a chance to face the elite four. At the close of this match, we'll know who our two finalists are. This match will be between Marlow from Olivine City and Megan from Blackthorn City. This match will still be in the three on three format and there will be no time limit. For the judges, Megan will be battling on the blue side and Marlow will be fighting on the red side. Trainers begin.!"  
  
"Let's make this a one on one fight," requested Megan.  
  
"Huh? Umm...no?" was Marlow's confused reply.  
  
"You don't have a choice. Just save your best pokemon for last."  
  
"Tauros, go."  
  
"Golem."  
  
A massive pile of rocks came out, ready to take on the wild bull. Heavy hitting would surely ensue. Marlow had other things in mind. Now was one of those choice few times where he could perhaps take a clear cut advantage in a round, or so he thought. Megan's face seemed enigmatic. She was about a year or so older than he was with brown hair, glasses, and very striking features. She was dressed in a shirt and pants and what looked to be a military camouflage coat. Marlow saw what appeared to be a knife in her side pocket. Megan seemed to smile as he took note of it.  
  
"Tauros come back."  
  
"Substitute."  
  
"Meganium, out."  
  
Meganium came out and to its shock, it wasn't hit by anything at all. Golem was doing something elaborate. In what seemed to be a considerable exertion of effort and vitality itself, it managed to put up this almost lifelike solid object that seemed to only serve as some kind of a meat shield, if you could say there was any meat in it at all. Meganium now had an obstacle to get around, a very big obstacle.  
  
Marlow had something in mind. He couldn't attempt to break the substitute with a draining attack as it had no health to drain. Powering up on the other hand could allow meganium to break through anything that golem could possibly set up. Megan had something in mind.  
  
"Swords dance."  
  
"Explosion."  
  
Marlow's body tensed up when he heard that word. It didn't matter what move he told at this point. His eyes and everyone else's were focused on golem. Golem's body began to glow an intense red, yellow and orange light with every color in-between. It raised its arms as every muscle in its body stiffened. Violent flashes of fiery light followed. The ground shook with awesome power. The general vicinity of the league battlefield became ground zero. A huge crater stood where the painted borders of the arena were. Somewhere in the rubble was a highly scarred and unconscious meganium. It was so covered in rubble and dirt that its color was no longer visible. A loud thud could be heard and this was likely to be the sound of golem fainting from its blast.  
  
"Golem is unable to battle. Meganium is presumed unable to battle. The match is tied at 2-2."  
  
Marlow knew now what was going on. It was time to choose who would fall next. If he could just get lucky, he might be able to pull it off. It was either tauros or his trump card. Tauros would have to go. Nothing could happen to his trump card.  
  
"Tauros."  
  
"Muk."  
  
"Tauros, horn drill."  
  
"Explosion."  
  
Tauros frantically dropped its head and lunged forward, hoping to penetrate muk's innards in such a way that would render it unconscious. Muk's body tightened and had begun to glow in a manner not too dissimilar to golem's. Tauros missed its charge. Muk's explosion didn't. Another crater emerged within the crater of the arena.  
  
"Muk and tauros are unable to battle. The match is now tied at 1-1."  
  
Marlow sighed. She was good, very good. It would be her best against his. He would have to use him.  
  
"Nidoking."  
  
"Porygon."  
  
============  
  
The sun had begun to set over the arena in Indigo plateau. The pokemon league tournament was almost over. Even when the arena was empty, it had a certain presence about it. So many battles had been fought here. So much had been poured into getting here. So many victories and defeats. This arena had seen a lot of winners and losers. Most of the losers who had fought here lost by losing. Some individuals lost by winning. A choice few had won by losing. As fate would have it, two winners met as the sun began to disappear over the mountains.  
  
Marlow looked at Conrad happily. His face seemed to exude confidence as he wore a grin on his face. The frustration of his own doubts and lack of confidence were banished from his countenance. Marlow carried a certain power as his gaze met Conrad's.  
  
"I won my battle today," said Marlow.  
  
"Good. Then I will see you at the finals," replied a grinning Conrad.  
  
The two looked at each other. Conrad tried to hold his expression as best he could, but as Marlow's face began to change, they both broke into laughter at the same time.  
  
"Well call me a loyalist and tar and feather me, this is simply amazing," said Marlow in shock.  
  
"Your philosophical ponderings have made fate smile upon you,"said Conrad jokingly.  
  
"More like you turning me into a cold, heartless, victory machine," returned Marlow.  
  
"Hey, I'm not the only corrupting influence. Your philosophies rub off on me too, you know," confessed Conrad.  
  
"I faced this interesting girl with a porygon who was extraordinarily skilled," said Conrad.  
  
"So did I," replied Marlow.  
  
They exchanged quizzical looks. The two joked and walked back to the trainer quarters they both knew one heck of a battle would have to take place in the morning. 


	7. Part 6

"Ladies and gentleman, it is with great honor and the utmost respect, that I present to you the president of Silph for the last time."  
  
The president of Silph advanced to the podium for what was to be his great and final address to the company. The faces of the audience seemed to express some mixed emotions. Several eyes were wet, while others could not have been more dry. The president himself had a hard time repressing his emotion. The remarks that he would soon give would have within them a special message, a message that was intended for a very select few among the audience.  
  
"Okay, so this guy walks into a bar, and then he says ouch. Puns aside, it really has been a pleasure to work with this fine company for so many years. Only genius of the finest caliber could withstand my pesky sense of humor. I'd like to maintain a professional focus for my final speech because we've drowned out most of our emotion with the inexpensive generic brand soda that we purchased for this retirement party. I'll be speaking on three main areas that directly pertain to this company's future. First I'll go over some of the cutting edge fields on the technological front and how these fields should be handled. Next I'll give my insight as to the future of the technological market. Finally I'd like to address a slight reorganization issue within the company.  
  
"First, let's take a look at some of the cutting edge technology that's coming to the forefront. Technology is teaching us something that we all knew for a long time: science is powerful. I don't mean to boast, but the simple truth is that no other company comes anywhere close to us in producing cutting-edge products. Our only technological competition comes from independently commissioned research projects far removed from the market. We're seeing advances in revitalization of all pokemon, and technological breakthroughs are making our existing items compatible with almost all pokemon. We've already reached the point where the pokemon league has banned most of our items on grounds of their extreme power. Our market focus will have to shift to out-of-battle service. The newest technology is going to have to do with genetics. We've been mapping out the raw genes of pokemon and now we've determined that random gene assignment is directly responsible for some degree of a pokemon's strength. We've traced this through breeding and random value generation. As we probe deeper, new insights into this will open up and we may find ourselves in control of another unique market. There's a lot of technology on the horizon and our market is going to be in out-of-battle items. Even so, it will certainly be beneficial to delve into genetics. As progress continues, we will reach a point where we can almost pinpoint the strength of a pokemon. We know that power is the product of many factors, ranging from experience to hereditary traits. I imagine that we will eventually be able to actually assign numeric values to pokemon based on their abilities.  
  
I'd like to now divert our attention towards my predictions of what the future will bring. We know that a lot of technological breakthroughs are on the horizon. We can either be the world's best friend or its worst enemy. I've said it many, many times; science is completely amoral. Science is a tool, a very complex and amazing tool, but a tool nonetheless. As a tool, it is an extension of the will of its user. Although science enables us to do new things, it cannot be blamed for the corruption of its users. Not too far in the past, this company saw the problems of using science for immoral purposes. Many of you here saw that happen and I would ask that you keep this lesson in mind. Use the powers of science ethically and Silph will be an instrument for good. Misuse these powers and our company will become an easy target. We need to continue to work towards making life easier for trainers as well as the common man. We must work in harmony with society and if we do that, society will more than reward us financially. As science progresses further, we begin to better understand our world and we can develop rational explanations of what would otherwise be something mystical or supernatural. This is what science does, but it is not its specific purpose. Science is just science. People are the ones that give science a purpose and assign it a meaning. The meaning that this company has given it is something to help people. We should not lose sight of that.  
  
"I'd like to now address one final topic. I'm leaving, and this company is going to need a new president. I know that everybody is more interested in who that person is going to be than in my retirement so I won't keep you waiting. I'd like to turn over the reins to my son. Stand up, son!"  
  
With sweat and terror dripping down his face, the president's son arose with both knees shaking frantically. The applause that he received from the audience did not have any consoling effect. Quite the opposite, in fact.  
  
"I've known this kid for quite some time. He'll make a great new president. He boasts an unprecedented moral character and he is very much in touch with today's market because he is a lot younger than I am. I just hope that you will treat him with the same respect that you have treated me. I'd like to close by saying that the average person swallows two spiders a year and that this company is indeed the future. Thank you."  
  
The president's closing remarks were met with a standing ovation. Sam's throat seemed to be closing as the poor man frantically struggled to breathe and return to reality. Instead of his mind returning to the immediate reality of the retirement party, he instead returned to the conversation that he had with Gus not more than half an hour ago. The old janitor was right about this, what else would he be right about?  
  
==============  
  
Room eighteen of the C building's trainer quarters housed the only remaining trainers in the league tournament. It was around midnight and both Marlow and Conrad were in their respective bunk beds and staring directly upward. Darkness and nothing more.  
  
"So I guess we're battling each other tomorrow," noted Marlow.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Do you think we were the best?" inquired Marlow.  
  
"I'd say we were pretty high up there. I tried a couple of risky things that I should not have that didn't end up working out. You were guilty of a couple of strategic blunders," said Conrad.  
  
"I...I...well I..." stammered Marlow.  
  
"I rest my case. Fortunately I know you outside of the league battle arena. Your mental blockage in the arena seems to be a more recent development."  
  
"I have a lot on my mind," put in Marlow.  
  
"Well I know that, but what exactly?"  
  
"It's hard to say. If I did say something it would be about something else that really won't help explain anything," Marlow said solemnly.  
  
"I think I know what it is."  
  
"You do?"  
  
"You're a very thoughtful person and this environment is a mesh of many different ideas and personalities and powers. Your curious intellect is on overload trying to make sense of all of it against everything you knew before. Your problem is that, like anyone else, you can't think of two things at the same time. Your abstract thinking has made you fall below your usual intelligence in battle," observed Conrad.  
  
"I know the cure," said Marlow.  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"I'll throw everything I've got at you tomorrow."  
  
"That will be good. You're really not someone to be taken lightly, especially if you use that mind of yours to actually fight someone."  
  
"It's too bad that they're not going to get a full on, clean battle tomorrow," Marlow said regretfully.  
  
"And why is that?" inquired Conrad.  
  
"We're going to be second guessing each other to the point of absurdity," answered Marlow.  
  
"Yes. Well there's nothing we can do about that. It's ridiculous not to adapt and change if you can get an idea of what's coming. The two of us on the other hand know each other a little too well."  
  
"Which will make it easier to be unpredictable by doing obvious things," put in Marlow.  
  
"Which is exactly what you would want to do with this kind of a situation. It's too obvious," responded Conrad.  
  
"Which is of course why I will do nothing of the sort."  
  
"Are you sure you don't want to do things randomly?"  
  
"How about we both just do our best tomorrow?"  
  
"That's ridiculous. This has nothing to do with either of us or how good we can do. It's about manipulating things to make the other person lose since our best might not be good enough."  
  
"I'm sorry I brought it up."  
  
"Maybe if I go to sleep, I will be well rested in the morning and more than able to deal with the wreck who has spent all night strategizing."  
  
"Yes. Go to sleep. You will awake to find yourself in a desert place, far away from Indigo Plateau. Far far away. Too far away to be battling away."  
  
"Good night Marlow."  
  
"Good night Conrad."  
  
"Marlow?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Do you think it all comes down to this?" asked Conrad.  
  
"The answer to that question I do know. Tomorrow will be just another day. Everything will lead up to tomorrow. Everything, including tomorrow, will lead up to the day after that. In other words, everything that has brought us here will stay with us and cannot be taken away from us. We'll just hit tomorrow and plow right through."  
  
"Now you're back to your old self," remarked Conrad.  
  
"I couldn't have picked a better time."  
  
"Good night."  
  
"Good night." 


	8. Part 7

"Come on Will, pick up," sighed Koga in a frustrated tone.  
  
"Will here."  
  
"Will, I've been calling you for quite some time. Is something the matter?"  
  
"Nothing mattered to me until a few seconds ago," replied Will.  
  
"Beg your pardon?"  
  
"I just woke up."  
  
"It's just past eleven."  
  
"I was hoping to get past twelve."  
  
"For the last time, you go to bed early and you wake up early. Anyway, now is not the time for such lectures. So, how are things going with our Cinnabar project?"  
  
"Good. We've got plenty of equipment that should be of great interest to the league. Unfortunately, I have had the greatest trouble establishing contact with Silph."  
  
"You do know that Silph is currently undergoing a change in presidents and potentially one in the board of executives don't you?"  
  
"I wasn't informed about it," returned Will.  
  
"I want you to return to Indigo."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Get some personnel over at the site. You need to get back here in time for some league business. You can miss the conclusion of the league tournament, but some important things are going to be discussed and we're going to need you there. I'm also sure that you'll want to take some time to prepare for some incoming challengers. You are going to be facing them first, you know," said Koga.  
  
"I'm not at all worried about that. I do have important things to do here and I don't see how I should get pulled away while I'm taking care of these things!" objected Will.  
  
"As much as this probably means to you, you're going to need to get back here. Some items on the agenda this year are a lot more important than fortuitous particulars about insignificant rules and policies."  
  
"Oh really?" questioned Will.  
  
"Things pertaining to the governance of the very objects that you are finding and excavating?"  
  
"That's different," replied a deflated Will.  
  
"One more thing. How goes the excavation of the old mansion?"  
  
"It's coming along. Our only problem is that the teams are extremely concerned about the safety of this building. It's taken extraordinary amounts of punishment, even before the volcanic eruption."  
  
"Ah, I was wondering if any excavation team may have stumbled across anything along the lines of, well, it's not that important," Koga said hesitatingly.  
  
"Something along the lines of what?" interrogated Will.  
  
"A written journal, a record of something, something that does not pertain to you getting back here on the double."  
  
"Is that an order?"  
  
"Shall I make it one?"  
  
"No, I'm just exasperated. Koga?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"How do you stay on top of things?"  
  
"I never let anything get over me and so I never get buried."  
  
Will hung up his cell phone with a groan and wiped away the sweat that had just saturated his brow. He didn't like to defy Koga like this, but he needed, wanted to make some additional headway with all of these excavation projects. He wanted something with substance that he could claim responsibility for, something that he could present to the rest of them.  
  
Fate, destiny, luck, circumstance, environment, whatever you would want to call it was against him. Will wanted to prove himself, but the more he did, the more he found himself becoming adversarial to those around him. It's tough to establish oneself and it seemed like the more he tried, the more forced and less natural it became. He was still in his sleeping bag, not too far off the recently excavated laboratory. The sun was bright. The surrounding area was dirty and muddy. It suited Will's mood quite well.  
  
==============  
  
Marlow was outside the league quarters. He was wearing shorts and a t-shirt as he sat Indian style along a cold section of grass. It was sometime before six in the morning, but Marlow didn't know exactly what time it was. He had come out to practice breathing and relaxation.  
  
Marlow took in air through his nostrils and did his best to extend out his abdomen. It didn't coincide with his breath perfectly, but it would suffice. Conrad would often correct his form and make sure that his back was straight and his shoulders were loose, but Conrad was not here. Inhale. Tension. Exhale. Repeat. The world, or at least the world he knew could be put aside by the sound of his own breathing. It was good to be reminded that not everything that was going on in the world was going on in his own skin and that he was just a small part of things. Marlow couldn't understand all of it, but it made him calm and at peace and right now that was good enough for him.  
  
About half an hour into the exercise, he had to get up as his legs were feeling stiff and starting to get numb. Purely for the fun of it, Marlow started jogging along without even the slightest care of where he was going. He jogged around the C building of the quarters and then down to and around the B building before jogging back and getting tired and slowing down to a slow walk. His pain would pass and his breath would return again. The coming battle would also pass and whatever would be lost would return again.  
  
The sun had begun to slowly creep up over the mountains and as it did, a gorgeous array of colors illuminated the landscape. The dawn of a new age? Did it always have to take a climactic event to change the way a person lived their day to day life?  
  
==============  
  
Conrad was alone as he strode over to the league battle arena. Although he had awoken early, Marlow was nowhere to be found. It didn't make any difference. Their most important exchanges had already taken place months ago. Something caught his eye on the paved pathway to the arena. It was not a thing, but a person. She was around seven, certainly no older than eight. She was looking straight at him.  
  
"Are you going to win today?" asked the little girl. She had big blue eyes and golden blonde hair. Her nearby mother and father were a bit embarrassed at having their daughter ask a grown adult whom she did not know a question. They gave a casual laugh and smile and were ready to apologize, but it was too late. Conrad had moved close to the child and was squatting down so that they could meet at eye level. He spoke softly.  
  
"I don't know. Maybe I will."  
  
"If you win, are you gonna be a pokemon master?" asked the girl.  
  
"Maybe. Maybe not," returned Conrad.  
  
"When I grow up, I want to be a pokemon master, just like you are going to be," said the girl hopefully.  
  
"What is your name?"  
  
"Brittany."  
  
"Well Brittany, that's a big goal. Remember to try your best and then you can be a master without having to win all the time like I will have to. Just remember to always be yourself, even if you do change your mind about becoming a pokemon master in the future. Can you remember all that for me?"  
  
Brittany nodded with a smile.  
  
"You'll do very well," said Conrad. 


	9. Part 8

"Ladies and gentleman, welcome to this league final match. We've seen a lot of action this year at the league competition. We've seen stunning upsets and come-from-behind victories, but I think everyone can agree that the two finalists this year are some of the finest that we've ever seen. Both of these trainers have earned the right to face off against the elite four, but as we all know, this tournament still needs a champion. Battling today on the blue side will be Conrad from Cherrygrove City. He will be facing Marlow from Olivine City on the blue side. Marlow is eighteen and has been always wanted to become a pokemon master since his childhood and he has entered this tournament to perfect his skills. Conrad is thirty-six and he says that he has been around for a while. He has entered this tournament because he was hoping that it could open some doors for him. Incidentally enough, both of our finalists this year are traveling companions and made the trip up to Indigo together. Let's hope they don't take it easy on each other. As you all know, the rules for the final match are the same with one exception. Final round matches are six on six instead of the usual three on three. Both Conrad and Marlow have requested that we not announce the actions of the battle and that request will be honored. There is no time limit for this match. Trainers, are you ready?"  
  
"Yes," replied Marlow.  
  
"Fire at will," put in Conrad.  
  
"Begin!"  
  
"Lead us in to battle, Lapras," said Conrad.  
  
"Tentacruel come out," commanded Marlow.  
  
The jellyfish pokemon emerged and faced its equally aquatic opponent. Lapras wiggled its ears and turned back to Conrad for a quick moment before looking back at tentacruel. The two pokemon knew each other and their respective trainers. Both seemed intent on battling. It was okay with them.  
  
"They that thrive will take counsel from friends," Conrad said solemnly.  
  
"Hold nothing back. Surprise them all," put in Marlow.  
  
"Lapras, use thunderbolt," ordered Conrad.  
  
"Mirror coat tentacruel."  
  
Lapras bowed its head and began to glow a yellow light. Electrical energy began to channel itself around its body and it increased until it was shot up into the air and crashing down onto its opponent. Tentacruel glowed a reflective glow and Lapras could see its own attack in a mirror. A few seconds later Lapras could feel its own attack and the pain it caused. It was not terribly pleasant.  
  
"Good job lapras, now confuse ray."  
  
"Tentacruel, swords dance."  
  
Tentacruel began to spin around gracefully and it stiffened its tentacles and it stiffened the muscles around its mouth and then relaxed them. The muscles all around its body tensed and relaxed and as it finished spinning and it felt a new, heightened sense of balance. It was ready for a doubly effective attack. Lapras cared nothing for the movements as it channeled its energies and fired a disabling beam right at tentacruel. Tentacruel became confused and its target now became increasingly unclear. Marlow's expression remained unchanged. Tentacruel would stay in.  
  
"Whirlpool, Lapras."  
  
"Continue swords dancing."  
  
Tentacruel attempted to boost its offensive power further, but it could not direct its attention properly and it wasted all the energy it exerted. Lapras raised its head and fired a stream of water near tentacruel. It flung itself into the stream and began to propel itself upward. With a good deal of spinning and its own mastery of water itself, Lapras created a water tornado that sealed in its foe. Though certainly not damaging, the watery jellyfish could not get out of it.  
  
"Tentacruel, try swords dance again."  
  
"Perish song," ordered Conrad.  
  
The confusion's effect left tentacruel and now it was free to use another swords dance. Tentacruel performed its graceful movements to a very haunting melody. Lapras begun to sing a melody that was both dark and haunting while being attractive at the same time. As Lapras finished, it smiled to itself, for it was no longer its opponents enemy. The song of destruction would win the battle for him. Perish song would faint tentacruel in a short period of time and Marlow could not recall it as it was still trapped in the whirlpool.  
  
"Sludge bomb."  
  
"Protect."  
  
Tentacruel was not visible within the huge spinning wall of water, yet it still managed to accurately launch a sludge bomb right through the watery prison. As the sludge bomb neared lapras, the ferry pokemon put up a glowing clear blue barrier. The poisonous glob faded away as it came into contact with the barrier and lapras remained completely unharmed. As the attacks finished, the song of destruction echoed another time.  
  
"It will not be enough," said Conrad.  
  
"I know," replied Marlow solemnly.  
  
The two battlers exchanged glances. Conrad was his usual self, but Marlow surprisingly still kept that same look of power and confidence from the previous day. Marlow was pouring everything into this without regret. He was in full control.  
  
"Lapras, protect again."  
  
"Whirlpool."  
  
Surprise swept across Conrad's face. The watery tornado surrounding tentacruel began to increase in size until it became large enough to envelop Lapras. Lapras attempted to put up its barrier another time, but it failed and both pokemon were now trapped in the whirlpool, unable to free themselves. The song of destruction echoed louder another time.  
  
"Protect."  
  
"Sludge bomb."  
  
Neither pokemon could gain any ground within the veil of the water. The song of destruction repeated itself again, but this time it was as loud as it had first been. The great force of the whirlpool faded away and the wall of water came splattering down to the ground. Both of the two pokemon were completely unconscious and helpless.  
  
"Very sly of you, Marlow, very sly. That was also very well played, although you'll have to gain ground if you want to win."  
  
"My endeavors have ever come short of my desires," quoted Marlow.  
  
"Quite so," affirmed Conrad.  
  
"Lapras and tentacruel are unable to battle. The match is tied at 5-5."  
  
"Tauros," said Marlow.  
  
"Granbull," said Conrad.  
  
The huge wild bull met the bull dog. Tauros raised a hoof and brought it backwards quickly, readying itself for a charge. Granbull lowered its jaw and licked its lips. It was going to try something a little different today. It had been waiting for this moment for a long time.  
  
"Tauros, body slam it."  
  
"Use charm."  
  
Tauros broke out into a mad charge and with incredible speed it plowed straight through granbull. The canine was knocked backwards, but it rolled back to an upright position. It was damaged, but nowhere near beaten. Granbull had a special charm attack in mind. An attack that would be especially effective against this particular foe. Granbull locked eyes with tauros and a wordless exchange took place. Psychologically, granbull seemed to make itself into an innocent creature of fragility with whom there was familiarity and friendship. The initial rage tauros could unleash on command now softened. Though it would still obey the orders of its trainer, it could not exercise its full power.  
  
"Body slam again."  
  
"More charm."  
  
With a smaller amount of force, tauros stampeded forward again and gave its foe a smaller hit. Granbull recovered quickly and locked eyes again. This time it seemed even more innocent, after it had suffered an attack without retaliation. The seriousness of the battle escaped tauros as it looked at granbull.  
  
"Body slam."  
  
"Return."  
  
Tauros simply could not unleash powerful force. It charged up and did a weak body slam, barely knocking granbull down. Granbull arose and returned with a charge of its own. This one was much more punishing.  
  
"Horn drill."  
  
"Return."  
  
This time tauros was going for the kill. It lowered its head and charged horns first. Granbull's charm would do nothing to stop a fatal hit of this caliber. As tauros charged forward, granbull made a quick leap to the side and it narrowly missed defeat. Tauros slowed its charge and moved back towards its own side of the arena granbull advanced and crashed into it again. The wild bull remained afoot, but it staggered slightly. The next attack would decide the fate of both pokemon.  
  
"Horn drill one more time."  
  
"Hyper beam."  
  
Granbull held its position and focused all of its energy into a massive beam. Tauros advanced in a mad rush, trying to finish the dog off before getting blown into next week. Granbull was ready to fire as tauros rapidly closed the gap. Granbull targeted tauros, but it was coming in too fast. It would surely connect this time. It did. Tauros seemed to impale granbull on its horns. With its massive strength it then lifted the bull dog off and flung it backwards in a crumpled heap.  
  
"Granbull is unable to battle. Marlow now leads 5-4."  
  
"Excellent work Marlow. Now let's see how you handle porygon," said Conrad happily.  
  
As porygon2 emerged Marlow realized that he had not gained much ground by taking down granbull. Tauros had lost his offensive powers and Marlow wasn't about to let porygon2 get an extra hit on any of his bench. All that was left to do was try another single hit knockout.  
  
"Horn drill," said Marlow again.  
  
"Finish it with a thunderbolt," Conrad commanded.  
  
Tauros tried its horn drill another time, but its death charge was inaccurate. The wonder of science dodged it easily and was now about the business of launching a thunderbolt. Tauros was toppled as a bolt of electricity pulsed out from porygon2.  
  
"Tauros is unable to battle. The match is now tied 4-4."  
  
"Dodrio, come out," ordered Marlow.  
  
The three headed bird emerged and each head was fixed on the electronic bird that they knew so well. Marlow had en elaborate combo in mind, but he would have to butcher it down to the minimum if it was going to have even the most remote chance of working.  
  
"Tri attack," said Marlow.  
  
"Thunderbolt again."  
  
Each of the heads of dodrio began to open their beaks and a beam of light expelled. Three different color beams hit porygon2 from different angles. Porygon2 was still functioning. Damage systems to the systems was considerable, but not critical. No status effect remained. The thunderbolt attack initiated. The bolt of lightning caused severe damage to its target. More than half of its health was depleted.  
  
Marlow sighed to himself. He was hoping he could've started a run with dodrio but it was too late. He would have to settle for taking down porygon2. Conrad was not giving him any room to get a foothold. Marlow had to break even.  
  
"Dodrio, endure!" exclaimed Marlow.  
  
"Oh no you don't. Porygon2, icy wind."  
  
Dodrio closed its eyes and braced itself to withstand another attack. The three headed bird simply focused on retaining consciousness. It would surely survive anything porygon2 was capable of. The porygon2 unit was not aiming to inflict pain. It unleashed a huge mixture of cold wind and ice. This ice was unique. It would implant itself on its target. As the winds died down, dodrio found much of its body crystallized with shards of ice. The speedy bird was now weighed down with ice and its stride was cut short.  
  
"How do you like the idea of icy wind on porygon2?" asked Conrad.  
  
"It's definitely paying off here. I think it could work as a good setup for a kill or at least allow something else to do the work," replied Marlow calmly.  
  
"Flail."  
  
"Thunderbolt.  
  
Marlow frowned. Conrad knew him too well and he was too well prepared. Marlow again could not switch into another powerful special attack. Dodrio was about to turn all of its pain and weakness and rage into pure destructive power that would devastate most anything. Porygon2 didn't mind. The icy shards slowed the bird down enough for it to administer a light bolt of thunder, finishing the bird off before it could finish it off.  
  
"Dodrio is unable to battle. Conrad now leads 4-3."  
  
"Nobody has taken it down faster than you, Conrad," congratulated Marlow.  
  
"Thanks. I try,"confessed Conrad.  
  
"Meganium."  
  
The fully evolved grass starter was very familiar to the crowd. Marlow had given it a more unique set for this battle.  
  
"Swords Dance."  
  
"Icy wind."  
  
Meganium did a graceful dance not only to relax and to prepare for the next attack, but to warm up and stretch out its muscles giving it full freedom of movement. Porygon2 unleashed another icy wind on meganium, causing only moderate damage and the leftover ice constricted the movement of its grass adversary.  
  
"I'll have to settle for just that. Time for a switch," said Conrad.  
  
"Earthquake," commanded Marlow.  
  
Porygon2 was withdrawn and in its stead emerged rapidash. Conrad knew what was coming, but he had some other things in mind. Meganium raised both of its front feet and brought them down to the ground. The ground began to shake and a huge mound of earth bulged up and caught rapidash before it had any time to do much of anything. The earth did great harm to the flames along the horse's body. Rapidash was not yet defeated. It was ready to return the doubly effective attack for one of its own.  
  
"Fire blast."  
  
"Come back meganium. Out flareon."  
  
The huge wall of flames meant to burn up some vegetation were instead received by the fiery evolution of eevee. Flareon hardly flinched as it endured the fire.  
  
"Body slam flareon," said Marlow.  
  
"Hypnosis," said Conrad.  
  
Rapidash galloped forward and began to utter another of its lulling melodies hoping to incapacitate flareon. Flareon was not effected and it dropped its weight before springing upward and straight into rapidash. Rapidash let out a cry of pain as it staggered and tried to get back to its feet. Though nearly beaten, the fire stallion still stood erect and awaited its next command.  
  
"One more hypnosis."  
  
"Finish it off with another body slam."  
  
Another soothing melody was uttered by rapidash, this one successfully put flareon under. Sleeping and unable to attack, flareon now became helpless and immobilized.  
  
"Now you will see why I have bothered. It's time to take more pot shots with single hit KO's," remarked Conrad.  
  
"Joy," Marlow said in the most monotone voice he could have used.  
  
"Horn drill."  
  
"Body slam if and when you happen to wake up."  
  
Rapidash tried to line itself up with flareon. In order for the single hit knockout to be successful, the strike would have to be a dead on body shot while going at considerable speed. This was incredibly difficult. Lowering its head, it galloped forward. Lying on the league arena asleep, flareon went its first round of unconsciousness unharmed. Rapidash had missed its mark with horn drill as its charge had put it just a few feet away.  
  
"Horn drill again.  
  
Marlow had not issued a command as he noted that his fiery pokemon was not to awake on that round. Still not flustered, rapidash retreated several paces before it charged forward again. Again, the pokemon missed its target, this time off by less than half an arm's length.  
  
"Horn drill, and don't miss this time."  
  
Marlow knew flareon would be taken out soon. He would not switch. He would not allow rapidash two chances to get a single hit knockout on his most powerful pokemon. He simply would not.  
  
Rapidash, a bit enraged at its previously failed attempts to connect with horn drill, smothered its anger and calmly envisioned its opponent mentally. The fire stallion charged forward horn first and went straight into flareon. After a moment it raised its head and it shook to one side causing flareon to topple over limp.  
  
"Thanks," said Conrad.  
  
"Flareon is unable to battle. Conrad now leads 4-2."  
  
Marlow had to use him. It was the only way to win.  
  
"Go, nidoking," Marlow said boldly.  
  
"I've waited the entire battle for this," admitted Conrad.  
  
"Nidoking, amnesia."  
  
"Rapidash hypnosis."  
  
Conrad bit his lip. Marlow was taking a risk. Why?  
  
Nidoking resumed its meditative stance as a melodious song filled the air. The noise did not seem to penetrate its concentration, for it was just another outside distraction that was of no consequence.  
  
"Hypnosis."  
  
"Earthquake."  
  
Nidoking pounded the ground and as it did, underground shock waves split the arena apart. Rapidash attempted to calm the storm by putting nidoking under, but the attempt failed. In a few seconds, nidoking had caused a massive tremor and a powerful uplift came out right under rapidash, knocking it painfully upwards. Rapidash was unconscious well before it came back down.  
  
"Rapidash is unable to battle. Conrad leads 3-2."  
  
"Porygon2, out."  
  
"Psychic."  
  
"Amnesia."  
  
After launching such a terrible earthquake, nidoking went back into its meditation fairly easily. Porygon2 unleashed its most powerful blast of artificial psychic energy, but it left nidoking unfazed.  
  
"Again," ordered Conrad.  
  
"Earthquake."  
  
Nidoking leaped into the air and pounded out another powerful earthquake. Porygon2 was definitely damaged by the attack, but that did not stop it from using a psychic attack in reply. Nidoking would not be stopped. The damage dealt was negligible.  
  
"Earthquake."  
  
"Recover."  
  
"This is not working. I see your plan now, Marlow. You were going to simply sweep away when the time was right for nidoking. Taking out lapras was a smooth move. You pulled it off well," uttered Conrad in a respectful tone.  
  
"Thanks, but I trust you'll put a stop to this?" inquired Marlow.  
  
"Of course friend, of course." replied Conrad.  
  
"Well, let's hope you can withstand a certain one hundred base power ground with stab."  
  
"Porygon2 return, come parasect."  
  
The bug grass type mushroom emerged to take another of nidoking's earthquakes. Unlike the others, parasect was hardly phased by the assault.  
  
"It's only good for one thing," explained Conrad, "And that's spore!"  
  
"Ice beam, nidoking."  
  
With its superb versatility, nidoking now began to launch an icy assault. A chilling beam hit the parasite and its body began to freeze and harden. The ice did harden on to the host bug and parasect wiggled the bigger cubes off its mushroom. Turning to nidoking, the bug let loose its powerful spores that began to fill the air, leaving no escape from sleep to any opponent.  
  
Nidoking was forced into unconsciousness as parasect tried to get rid of its icy wounds. Both pokemon were healed by berries. A tiny gold flash of light restored a small amount of parasect's strength. A berry awakened nidoking from its sleep. Parasect was not happy that its spored adversary was awake again.  
  
"So this was why you chanced sleep earlier. It would be nice if you could escape it now. Spore again, parasect," ordered Conrad.  
  
Nidoking launched another icy beam. Were it not for parasect's berry, it would not have survived the assault at all. Still hanging on, the mushroom launched another spore. This time, nidoking could not escape from sleep.  
  
Marlow paused. He would have to wait a turn to find out what he would do next. If parasect had growth, he could wait it out until nidoking woke up again. If it was swords dance, he would have to switch out to meganium. There was only one way to find out. Nidoking remained asleep.  
  
"Parasect, swords dance."  
  
Marlow sighed. He would have to switch out.  
  
"Return nidoking. Finish it, meganium."  
  
"Hyper beam, parasect."  
  
Parasect concentrated its energy and blasted meganium with a powerful glowing beam of energy. Meganium was forced backward and it continued rolling until the beam subsided. Meganium had sustained a powerful hit, but it was not yet beaten. It boldly returned to its feet and it was not free to eliminate its helpless adversary anyway it chose.  
  
"Swords dance, meganium."  
  
Meganium pumped up its attack power as parasect now completely immobilized from its last offensive.  
  
"Ancientpower."  
  
"Hyper beam."  
  
Parasect had no chance. Before it could even begin to form a hyper beam, meganium had sent rows of gigantic boulders coming up from the earth. Parasect itself was uplifted by one and it was forced upwards until it collided with another boulder. The poor host bug did not have a chance.  
  
"Parasect is unable to battle. The match is now tied at two."  
  
"Things are down to the wire, dear friend," said Conrad.  
  
"Isn't it grand?" asked Marlow.  
  
"Very much so," replied Conrad.  
  
Conrad had sent out his next pokemon during the brief exchange. A raichu emerged. Marlow would make short work of it.  
  
"Bring it down with an earthquake," said Marlow.  
  
"Endure, raichu."  
  
Meganium unleashed a powerful earthquake that would under most circumstances obliterate the evolved version of the ever-so popular electric mouse. Raichu's eyes remained closed as the ground attack hit it with full force. After being shaken up and tossed violently by the earth, its eyes opened and it rose up again.  
  
"Reversal."  
  
Marlow ordered nothing upon hearing this. Raichu now took all of its pain and weakness and channeled it. With its directed energy, raichu bolted straight towards meganium and delivered a swift kick that was so powerful that it flipped the grassy pokemon backwards.  
  
"Meganium is unable to battle. Conrad now leads 2-1."  
  
Without any alternative, Marlow brought out nidoking. The drill beast was still asleep when it emerged.  
  
"Raichu, surf," commanded Conrad.  
  
A wave of shock swept through the audience all the way down to Marlow as to how such a feat was possible. Everyone eyed the league referees, expecting some intercession, but there was none. Marlow put away his surprise. Conrad always had connections.  
  
"Nidoking. Wake up now and finish him with an earthquake!" exclaimed Marlow.  
  
Conrad's raichu had been extremely well trained and equally well gifted. The masses were more than a little surprised when Raichu began to spew forth water. It was not a very strong stream, but it was a burst quick enough to propel itself into the air. Instead of riding a wave down, raichu cheated and propelled itself directly towards Nidoking. It unleashed a drop kick and then followed up with a spray of what little water it could store. The attack was extremely damaging.  
  
Shock swept across the crowd. What type of new power was this? Would there be other pokemon with moves of this nature coming? Nidoking lay motionless and face down in a small puddle of water. Raichu looked on curiously. Fingertips began to move. Legs began to stretch. Nidoking's head turned around. Its eyes were open.  
  
Nidoking simultaneously jumped to its feet and launched a booming earthquake that knocked raichu into the air. It landed several yards away.  
  
"Raichu is unable to battle. The match is now tied at one."  
  
"Let's wrap it up Porygon2."  
  
Porygon2 and nidoking faced off once again. Their respective trainers looked into each other's eyes and each others souls. Seconds became minutes that seemed like hours. Marlow and Conrad were both in deep thought. Suddenly, Marlow nodded at Conrad. Conrad nodded back.  
  
"The coup de grace," uttered Marlow.  
  
"The coup de grace," repeated Conrad.  
  
With all of its might, nidoking shook the ground for one final time. It seemed as though the entire arena shook a bit from its foundation. A huge dune came up just above porygon2, violently crashing the unit and landing it on the ground.  
  
Porygon2's sensors calculated that it had the strength left for one more attack. It would be an ice beam as its trainer had previously ordered. The front end of the man made pokemon glowed a deep blue and a frosty ray was sent forward. The ray caused huge chunks of ice to form all around nidoking.  
  
The two pokemon faced each other again. Nidoking struggled with every last bit of strength it had to remain on its feet. The porygon unit was too damaged to continue hovering at its usual place above the ground for much longer. Conrad and Marlow exchanged one final glance. Nidoking collapsed.  
  
"The champion has been decided!" 


	10. Part 9

"Ladies and gentleman, I must say that this has been one of the most amazing tournaments that I have ever seen. I can safely say that the action that we saw here over these past few days has kept us all on the edge of our seats. The intense pressures of battle have turned these lumps of coal of battlers into glistening diamonds. The..."  
  
"Does that guy ever shut up?"  
  
"Adults don't become interested in things until they're treated like sports."  
  
"Hey! What does that mean? I happen to like that announcer."  
  
"It means that rambling on about statistics and commenting on things profusely is what it takes to get adults interested. They wouldn't like it if their mind couldn't wander around aimlessly."  
  
"Well that's not always true," said Conrad.  
  
A huge line of trainers were lined up haphazardly in the tunnel of the league's main stadium and were awaiting their entrance to the main stadium. A group of youths were about the business of trying to tirade the stadium announcer when Conrad intervened. The intervention didn't have as much to do with the announcer as it did with his respective age group.  
  
"You, you're the champion, aren't you," put in one.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Can I ask you something?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Why did you use thunderbolt on tentacruel if you probably knew that he would be packing mirror coat?"  
  
Conrad frowned and replied, "I was concerned about Marlow packing a particular set on his tentacruel. If it was going to be that particular set then I knew that I had to damage it as fast as possible."  
  
"I'm still not convinced."  
  
"I know. I'm not perfect because I won. Battling is alive and spontaneous, it loses its beauty when you sit down and pick it apart. Well, when you pick it apart excessively, anyway."  
  
"What do you think of Marlow's nidoking?"  
  
"That thing is a demon."  
  
Conrad caught the eye of someone that he had seen before. It was Marlow's opponent in the semifinals. She was just about his age. Her eyes were a hazel green and she was a brunette. There was a handle near her pocket that seemed to be that of a knife.  
  
"If you'll excuse me," said Conrad politely as he moved toward her.  
  
"Hello, I don't believe that we've met," Conrad said, addressing her.  
  
"We haven't. You're the one who beat Marlow in the finals. Conrad, right?" she asked.  
  
"Yes. I am. Your name is Megan, right?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
I'd just like to tell you that I really enjoyed watching your battles. You've really got something there. You easily beat Julia for third place, didn't you?"  
  
"A couple of booms and then I trumped her porygon with my own," recalled Megan.  
  
"Splendid. I have to admit that it takes a lot of guts to try something new and different and uncertain. Most people just think about type matching and weakness covering. The people who usually win limit their choice of pokemon and strategies to what is standard and workable. You are unique. Blowing things to bits must also be thrilling. And then you get to exacerbate the tournament proctors by ruining league arenas."  
  
"Thanks, but I've been booming for quite a while. It's nothing new."  
  
"Forgive me for asking, but is that a knife that you have there?"  
  
"I don't mind. It is."  
  
"Judging by the blade, I imagine that you must like to get into close range as stealthily as you can and then take your target out," observed Conrad.  
  
"Yes. That's about what I have t0o do. I can't really do anything fancy and it usually works."  
  
Marlow, seeing Conrad in the crowd, came closer. Upon seeing that he was talking with Megan, started blushing. With the assistance of a deep breath he moved towards them. It was impossible to sneak up on Conrad, for he was caught by Conrad's perpetually scanning peripheral vision before he was even in speaking range.  
  
"Marlow, it's good to see you. Have you met Megan outside of the arena yet?"  
  
"No, I haven't. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance," stammered Marlow.  
  
Marlow shot a death look back at Conrad before turning back to Megan. Conrad only grinned it away. He couldn't help blushing. Hopefully she didn't notice. He had to think of something to say to get out of this.  
  
"I notice that you like porygon a lot."  
  
"Yes. It's my favorite. I was really happy to see so many people packing one. Conrad uses porygon2, but at least it's a porygon," returned Megan.  
  
"Where did you learn your explosive ways?" asked Marlow.  
  
"It's just something that I picked up a while ago, before all of these new pokemon came into play."  
  
"Do you think that you'll change your approach, say, next year, if you do compete next year?" inquired Conrad.  
  
"I don't think so," returned Megan.  
  
"Why not, if you don't mind me asking?" continued Conrad.  
  
"I just don't like those other strategies as much. There are obviously other things to do out there that work, but I stick to this," said Megan.  
  
"You mean to tell me that you won't change your style, even if it means not doing as well and risking defeat?" Marlow asked directly.  
  
"Aye, sir," was Megan's terse reply.  
  
"You're really special," observed Marlow.  
  
"You are a rare find indeed," confirmed Conrad.  
  
"Thanks. You guys aren't too bad yourselves," returned Megan.  
  
"What are your plans for this next coming year of pokemon training?" asked Marlow.  
  
"I don't know for sure. I might head on over to Kanto to see what the other gym leaders have been up to. It will be good to go back over there. I haven't been back since they officially switched the main gyms over to Johto."  
  
"That sounds like it will be interesting for you. You'll keep getting better all the time, I'm sure. I bet if you didn't have to face Marlow's nidoking, your porygon would have easily taken him out," put in Conrad.  
  
"She probably would have," agreed Marlow.  
  
"Maybe."  
  
"Ladies and gentleman, behold this year's league contestants!" boomed a loudspeaker.  
  
Their conversation was immediately cut short as several league officials in black shorts and polo shirts in various colors began herding all of the trainers together and trying to assemble something that remotely resembled a line. By the time the shuffling and scrambling finished Conrad lead the pack outside of the tunnel and onto the field to be greeted with cheers of delight from the crowd.  
  
"They're cheering for us," said Conrad.  
  
"You mean they're cheering for our battling abilities and rankings," returned Marlow.  
  
"It all just meshes together in their minds," returned Conrad.  
  
Marlow didn't know what to feel as they advanced towards the winner's circle. He had to admit to himself that he came to this tournament with very few expectations and he had no idea that what he did was worthy of getting him as far into the tournament as he had gotten. There was surprise, gladness, and embarrassment for knowing that he would be singled out by a massive group of people. The most penetrating feeling that he got was that he really didn't know what to do next. He would go and face the elite four and then lose, but then what? What else did pokemon have to offer? What else did life have to offer?  
  
"What now?" asked Marlow sincerely.  
  
"We get trounced by the elite four," replied Conrad.  
  
"Well, and then?" persisted Marlow.  
  
"You make your own destiny."  
  
Everything seemed to pass by dreamily. The names of the top thirty two trainers were read out loud, but that didn't stop audience members from yelling out the names of the persons that they had come to watch. Names, awards, yelling, certificates, more yelling. It seemed surreal that the ceremony was connected to the tournament. Now it came down to the top four.  
  
The top four trainers were to come up to a raised platform. Plaques, trophies, and certificates were to be presented. The President of the League Tournament Committee was on hand to present the awards and Bruno of the elite four was on hand to congratulate the top four. Both men were dressed up with suits and ties. The Comittee President seemed to be much more comfortable in a suit than Bruno was. The two seemed to almost come from different worlds.  
  
"Julia from Goldenrod City!"  
  
Julia walked up the stairs to a raised platform where she cordially received a handshake from the President of the League Tournament Committee as well as a handshake from Bruno.  
  
"Coming out on top in a tiebreaker for third is Megan whose home town I do not have handy!"  
  
Megan was given a trophy from the President. Bruno said some things to her after shaking her hand that Marlow could not make out. She moved over to another raised stand that had 1, 2, and 3 conveniently labeled along the front end. Now it would be his turn.  
  
"Coming in second place and going on to face the elite four is Marlow from Olivine City!"  
  
Marlow was expecting to trip as he made his way up to receive his piece of metal. It would almost be nice to trip and fall on his face because then he could have distinct and irrefutable proof that what he was experiencing was real. It didn't happen. Marlow got a cordial handshake and something heavy and cumbersome to lug around. And then there was Bruno.  
  
He had a huge muscular build and an intense, but thoughtful look on his face. His hair was more than a bit spiky and it came down to his lower neck. Bruno's face held a deep seriousness and an interest in the people that he talked to. Marlow imagined that he endured the awkwardness of these ceremonies so that he could get a word in with some of the upper tier trainers. Now he spoke.  
  
"Congratulations," he said.  
  
"Thank you. I hope to get the chance to battle you." said Marlow.  
  
"You just might. Listen. You've done a really great job. I can tell that you've improved over the course of this tournament. Keep training to keep that skill that you've picked up. It's not too late to get even better before you face the elite four. Seek for wisdom as you develop your talents."  
  
Marlow was more than a bit surprised. Bruno's comments seemed to be too specific to be canned and general, even if his intellect suggested the contrary. He really felt like he had improved over the course of this tournament. For Bruno to make that observation, he would have had to have observed his own matches with some particular interest. It all seemed to be some direct and true advice, unique to him. Seek for wisdom. Marlow knew what he had to do and who he had to go to for that.  
  
"Also going on to face the elite four, our tournament champion, Conrad from Cherrygrove City!"  
  
Conrad strode forward, exchanged pleasantries with the President and received his golden prize. Marlow pricked his ears and listened in on the conversation that his traveling companion would soon have with Bruno.  
  
"Excellent. This is a great accomplishment," spoke Bruno.  
  
"It is for me. Thank you."  
  
"You're good, and you're also quite sharp. We could use you."  
  
"I would like that opportunity very much," replied Conrad.  
  
"We'll keep in touch."  
  
In no time at all, the three of them, Megan, Marlow, and Conrad were all situated atop a raised stand and were now waiting for some lavish comment from the announcer that would signify that it was time to hold up their trophies.  
  
"So Conrad, I noticed that you've got some interesting connections. Getting surf on raichu is no easy task."  
  
"Ladies and gentleman, may I present to you the top three trainers from this years tournament!"  
  
They held their cups up high. So Bruno was sincere.  
  
"I've been around for a while," Conrad said to Megan.  
  
The stadium erupted in cheers and Megan's reply became incomprehensible.  
  
========================  
  
Will tried to reach Koga's cell phone. There was no answer. It was decently late at night. Bruno would probably be at the league awards ceremony. Pulling him away from the festivities surely wouldn't be a crime. He needed to make sure that the rest of them knew.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hi."  
  
"Oh, hi Will. What can I do for you?"  
  
"Am I distracting you from anything?"  
  
"You know what I'm doing right now, but you obviously need something. How can I help?"  
  
"I just wanted to give you a status report."  
  
"Okay where are you and what have you left?"  
  
"I just got back from Cinnabar. I'm at Pallet Town right now. I'll spend the night here and I'll be arriving tomorrow afternoon. The equipment is in the process of being transported and we think that we may have made some headway at unearthing part of the mansion. If you could pass all of this along to Koga, that I would very much appreciate that," said Will.  
  
"That sounds like good news. I'll definitely pass it a long to him. How are you doing right now?" asked Bruno warmly.  
  
"I'm alright. I need to ask you something."  
  
"Go ahead."  
  
"What measures do we have to address on committee?"  
  
"I don't know where to start. Important things are going to be decided very soon. The two months that are going to be in-between now and when Marlow and Conrad come to face us are probably going to get eaten up by the time we're going to spend making these decisions."  
  
"Marlow and Conrad?"  
  
"They're going to be the two that will be facing us. I guess you didn't catch very much of the tournament. Like I said, you won't have much time to prepare before we'll have to face these guys. Have you been keeping up with your training?"  
  
"I've fallen a bit behind," admitted Will.  
  
"That's fine. Did you get a chance to familiarize yourself with what's going to be on the agenda?"  
  
"No, I didn't."  
  
"I'm sure you'll get more time familiarizing yourself with our agenda than you'll ever want over these coming months. There's definitely a lot going on. It sounds like you've been extremely busy yourself. I'll be sure to pass along that message. If you could get here as quickly as you can, then that would be great. Take care of yourself and I hope to see you soon. Goodbye," said Bruno.  
  
"Goodbye," replied Will.  
  
Somehow, it was a lot easier and pleasant for Will to deal with Bruno than it was for him to deal with Koga. 


	11. Part 10

Cold, artificial, recycled air circulated throughout the League Executive Meeting hall and it was breathed in by men of all walks of life. Standing up and at the center of the table was the President of the Tournament Comittee.  
  
"The League Committee has been grappling with this decision for some time. Hello, Will," said the President  
  
"I'm sorry I'm late," apologized the elite four member. He quickly took his seat at the table.  
  
"The League Comittee has been committed to making decisions that are in the best interest of the Pokemon League. As such, we've committed ourselves to certain values and certain principles about training pokemon and we've picked these elite four members here as well as our champion to outwardly express our commitment to these principles. Despite, and sometimes, in spite of this, we have to make decisions on what is practical for us and the survival of the league. We've been keeping tabs on all of the scientific developments that have been coming out and we've looked at how they can effect the doings of this league. Let me first make three things clear," declared the president.  
  
"First, this league exists as a way to give organization, structure, and stability to the way people train pokemon. Second, that the actions of this league change the way that people catch and train pokemon. Third, that people often catch, train, and raise pokemon for the recognition of the league."  
  
"I think that this is pretty clear. Several years ago, we realized that we had to change the way official league battles were done. We couldn't just let people beat the insides out of each other and give victory to whoever came out on top. It favored powerful people or rather powerful pokemon and it gave them a disproportionate amount of recognition. Things couldn't go on like this. Our equilibrium was upset. We couldn't stop this. We had to divert attention away from the strongest people and the strongest pokemon. We created restrictions. We placed restrictions on the way that people could battle and the pokemon that they could battle with. We messed with everything. The number of pokemon, the species of pokemon, the moves you could use, how many pokemon you could use sleep or freeze on all kinds of things.  
  
"I still don't think it's enough. We still are not stable. This year, dozens of people walked away from this league competition disappointed and infuriated at their defeats and I imagine several will quit pokemon entirely. I'm sure you saw or heard about our runner up, Marlow, trashing a poor girl's pikachu, clefairy, and charmeleon. This tells us that we have a problem. We've got to fill the gap between the strong and the weak. We need not only some restrictions on pokemon and strategy, we need restrictions on people."  
  
"What do you mean?!" demanded Bruno.  
  
"There's got to be balance on the playing field," returned the President.  
  
"How can this be? Pokemon is about training and raising and the growth and development of humans and pokemon together. The gap in the strength of trainers reflects their different levels of commitment and determination. You can't expect this process to always fit neatly and comfortably into a league battle arena," argued Bruno.  
  
"Master Bruno perhaps underestimates the effects and influences of what's hard-wired and genetic about all of the pokemon as well as the psychological makeup of the trainers. But he is very much correct in saying that there is a complex relationship between the two and it's one that does not always fit neatly into our competitions," said the league's Silph representative.  
  
"The both of you are quite correct. Your observations are indeed correct. Master Bruno, I think that you ought to know that these qualities you speak of don't really reflect in a league battle perfectly anyway. Luck and circumstance blur and distort that reflection. No genetics can compensate for physical conditioning and strategy. Let me tell all of you where I am going with all of this. All of the ethics and values of training pokemon have indeed given some order and understanding to the trainers governed by the league, but our understanding is incomplete without some of the science behind all of it. To be honest, I still don't know whether nature or nurture is more important in pokemon, but I think it would be foolish to endorse only one aspect of all of this. We should, and I plan to, control both. Only by controlling both factors will we gain stability," asserted the President.  
  
"How do you propose to do that?"  
  
As I mentioned earlier. We place restrictions on people, or rather divide them into groups, classes. Strong people like fighting strong people and weak people like wining every once in a while. This is definitely something that we need to discuss more, but the premise is absolutely essential. We need to establish an equilibrium," said the President.  
  
"How are we going to establish this equilibrium?" asked Will.  
  
"It's going to take some doing and some extensive use of the media, but it can be done, we'll just have to be extremely careful. We need to get everyone where they are comfortable and that may have to mean assigning pokemon. For the time being, we need to build up an image of insurmountability. We need to make it impossible for the league to be defeated. Once the trainers of the league become an impenetrable road block, even the best trainers will then turn their attentions towards fighting other people and then we can concentrate on our divisions."  
  
"How do you plan to make us invincible?" asked Koga.  
  
"For that we're going to need all of the help we can get. Silph Company is figuring out the mechanics and inner workings of pokemon, from the genetic structures on down to getting a more accurate way of measuring base move power and getting the strength of pokemon converted into statistics. Every discovery gets fed into simulation programs which makes it more accurate and correspond more to real life. They've got people round the clock working and testing and strategizing with this program. As the two mesh, we'll get a better idea of how to improve our skills. In addition to this, Silph is starting to make more and more of what was once theoretical into something real and usable," continued the President.  
  
"I can't say that I'm convinced that we should do this," said Lance.  
  
"I agree," Bruno added.  
  
"This is going to be a process and it will take some time. We're going to hear as many sides to this as we can before we finalize this decision."  
  
"Let me get this straight. You want to eliminate free choice of pokemon in order to create a stable competitive environment?" asked Will.  
  
"Pretty much. If you really sit down and look at what the 'Pokemon Experience' has to offer, you'll find all kinds of neat things like trust, leadership, friendship, love, and new experiences and it goes on. It's a terrible thing to say, but you can still get a lot of what pokemon has to offer without these things. The one thing that you can't get rid of is a stable environment. We've got to hold everything together and I wouldn't be sticking my neck out to tell you all of this if I didn't think it was important. I don't know if we can keep up with everything new that's coming up. The league is of itself no master of the sciences. What we can do is insulate ourselves and the people we deal with from all of this," stated the President.  
  
"Don't we have to adapt to the outside world?" inquired Lance.  
  
"Not necessarily. We only have to adapt to the world if we want to include the world in what we do. We don't have to do that. We can make our own little world. A new world," replied the President. 


End file.
